It is with sadness that I advise the passing of VBRA Life Member and former Branch Advisor, Graham Sampson.

On Tuesday 1st November I received a message saying that Graham Sampson passed away earlier that morning with his wife Loraine and daughter Danni, and that he is now out of any pain and at rest. 

For those who did not know Graham was once the referees adviser at Altona and had a stellar Basketball career as an official including the following achievments:

PLAYER   Began playing at the age of 9 in a small competition then graduated to the Junior League at Albert Park.  After Juniors he played in the Senior Competition at Albert Park also, where I became interested in Refereeing. 

REFEREEING  commenced refereeing in 1962 as a C Grade refereeing quickly becoming an A grade referee in the same year.  In 1963 he gained my State Badge (equal to Level 3) and the following year he received my Australian Badge (equal to Level 4)  In the interim he refereed at many Australian Championships of differing levels and age groups. He also refereed at many of the different levels of Senior Basketball being Junior Championships, SEABL, & NBL. 

REFEREE ADVISOR  In 1982 Graham became the Referee Advisor at Diamond Valley Stadium which continued for 4 years until he moved away then becoming Advisor at Keilor in 1986.  He remained Advisor there for the following 10 years as well as being Advisor for Altona from 1994 until 2004 also being there for 10 years.  In 1998 he was also asked to help at Melton as co-advisor where he continued until 2002. Graham was then approached about becoming Advisor at Diamond Valley again as their Referee Association was in trouble, so he got them back on their feet and stayed there until 2005 when bother Graham and Loraine moved Maffra, where he was the Advisor at Sale.

REFEREE COACH.  When becoming a Level 2  referee he was also asked to begin evaluating referees on the many panels, which Graham have continued to do until a couple of years ago.  Evaluating at various Levels of basketball  ie: Junior Championship, Senior Championship, MMBL, SEABL, VBL, and at many Australian Championship in Senior Ranks & Junior Ranks, the latest being the Junior Classic at Dandenong each year in June.

TRAINING OF REFERESS.  Over the years a number of the referees Graham had trained from Apprentices to A grade have gone on to become among the top referees in the State.  In the Metro area a lot of training goes into making referees aware of the importance of refereeing in the correct manner with regards to on court behaviour and attitude which he would like to see being brought into the country Associations as well.  The Associations pay the referees which ultimely comes from the parents in most cases, so referees should take more care in their approach to the game.

MEMBER OF COMMITTEES He was a member of the Albert Park Referees Association, at the old Stadium, then was President at Keilor for several years, & after that was a Committee member of the Melton Referees Association & the Altona Referees Association.Grahams efforts as a referee, referee coach and advisor will never be forgotten there are many officials who owe a lot to him.He will be deeply missed in the basketball community. 

His Funeral will be held at Semmems Funerals Chapel, 3-5 Queen St, Maffra on Wednesday 7th November at 11am.

We wish to extend out deepest sympathy to Loraine, Danni and his Family.

Liam Costello
President
VBRA Altona