Douglas Bader 1941-2008
basketballscotland are sad to report the death, after a short illness, of Douglas Bader on Saturday 26 April 2008. Douglas was a former FIBA International Referee and a huge contributor to Scottish Basketball over the past 45 years.
Douglas first came to prominence within basketball circles as Scottish Basketball's Young Referee of the Year in 1963. He went on to become a FIBA International referee in 1973 and one of the highlights of his refereeing career was in the World University Games in Edmonton, Canada in 1983. He refereed numerous Home International matches and games in Europe, as well as countless Scottish League and Cup games.
Douglas never retired from active refereeing, and also worked endlessly to encourage, support and develop young officials through his involvement on the basketballtayside & fife executive Committee and the basketballscotland Officials Commission.
Douglas was also central to the establishment of Perth Phoenix Basketball Club, which, under his chairmanship has established itself in the Scottish National Leagues over the past 6 years. He also chaired the strategic planning process for the governing body in 2003-04.
Douglas was recognised for his contribution in 2005, winning Scottish Basketball’s volunteer of the year award.
Professionally, Douglas was a retired headmaster of Perth Grammar School and is highly thought of throughout education. He was also a passionate choir and opera singer and contributed much to his local community in Blairgowrie.
Douglas is survived by wife, May and his three sons, Roddy, Keith and Gregor.
Scottish basketball has lost a true gentleman who put in tireless amount of work for clubs, referees and the betterment of the game. He will be sadly missed by his many friends throughout the country.
The funeral will be held on Thursday 1 May at 3pm at Perth Crematorium.
basketballscotland’s thoughts are with the family at this time.
We welcome you to write a comment or share memory about Douglas by clicking here or on the COMMENTS link below.
15 comments:
Douglas will be sadly missed by all at basketballscotland. He has contributed a huge amount to the sport over the years.
He had the habit of seeing the bigger picture. Earlier this year, Dougie attended a referee forum to discuss the development of officials. After about two hours the discussion had started to go in circles on details. Dougie stood up, summarised his opinions, and politely left the meeting. 10 minutes later, the meeting had finished, with pretty much everyone agreeing to go with what Dougie had said.
On a personal note, Dougie whistled a local cup tie I played in during March, which was the last time I saw him, some 17 years after he refereed one of my school cup ties. The one memory that will always stick with me is the way he would whistle for a foul, make his way to the table and, before signalling to the table,he would take a second to flatten his hair!
Over the last 15 years I’ve seen many people disagree with Dougie, either during a meeting (and he wasn’t backward at expressing his opinions) or about one of his calls on the court. However, I have never heard anyone have a bad word to say about him afterwards. I think that’s a testament to the respect he has within our sport.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
My deepest condolences are with the Bader family and his close friends at this extremely sad time.
Douglas was a true gentleman, who worked tirelessly for the game of basketball at all levels. He has helped me during my short refereeing career. He was my co-official in my first ever Scottish Cup Final, I was extremely nervous before but he helped put me at ease and it all went well. I will always remember sitting in the canteen at Meadowbank having a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich after the match and chatting. Listening to him talk about basketball, both about refereeing and player development, was always enjoyable and enlightening.
I would like to come to the funeral to pay my respects, however I am studying in France at the moment and will not be able to attend.
May he rest in peace.
Bill Shepherd, basketballtayside & fife, Arbroath Musketeers
It is with great sadness that I record these words as Douglas was a true friend and a gentleman to go with it. We travelled to many places over many years whilst refereeing and I learned a great deal from him. I will cherish the memory of presenting him with his Volunteer of the Year award at my home in 2005 just after he had returned from his holiday in France and even May was amazed that he for once was speachless. His work in the area of officiating and his contribution to the development of the new Perth Phoenix Basketball Club will lways be remembered.
My thoughts and prayers are with May and the boys at this sad time.
Douglas will be sadly missed. His enthusiasm, his intelligence and his wonderful manner made a real impact. He refereed as all referees should; quietly efficiently and in the background. He was respected by all the players he refereed even if you disagreed with the decision. He was very sharp and could argue his case vigorously. He battled his illness the way he lead his life - quietly and with no fuss just getting on with it. He always thought of others before himself and made everyone feel at ease.
A real gent. The world is much poorer for his passing. My thoughts are with his family at this time.
Douglas has been a great mentor, role model, and friend to all those involved not only to all in Scottish basketball, but even more so to the people involved in Perth Phoenix Basketball Club. It has be a real privilege to work with someone with such great enthusiasm for the game.
Everyone has their own personal memories of Douglas, it would be hard not to have, but for me it used to make me smile when, either at a training session, game, or committee meeting, Douglas would speak to me in French, or Spanish or some other foreign language, and I wouldn't have a clue what he was saying, but he would be laughing at the end of it, and I couldn't help but laugh too, even though I had no idea what he had just said. This was typical of Douglas, he would laugh at what he was saying, before he even said it. His sense of humour was a true reflection of his character which made him such a well respected person.
The thoughts and prayers of everyone involved with Perth Phoenix Basketball Club are with his family at this time. He will be sorely missed.
Thank you Douglas.
It's difficult to sum Douglas Bader up in just a few short sentences. I've known Douglas for many years through his friendship with my dad, him refereeing my National and Local League games, and also had the priviledge of refereeing my first ever local league game with Douglas as my co-official. As a player, he was probably the only referee that I would never question.
Douglas was a person who would go out of his way to be accomodating and also inspired that in others. He was the epitome of a true gentleman and no matter if things were getting to him, he always had a smile and a positive outlook.
His sense of humour was second to none and it always made me laugh when Douglas would rattle off some witty joke or comment, but would already be laughing so hard that 9 times out of 10, you would miss half of what he had to say!
This is my 2nd season with Perth Phoenix and they have been the best 2 seasons in my compartively short basketball career, which I believe, is testament to the hard work and dedication that Douglas put in to making the club what it is today.
I am proud to say that I knew him and he will be deeply missed.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.
A very sad loss, a great man and a true gentleman. He always had time for everyone and always shared his great knowledge to benefit others, I remember one time he was talking to a student from France that was on placement with basketballscotland, he took the chance to chat and pass onto her ways that had helped him learn his different languages since she was trying to improve her English with the odd laugh and joke in French, while politely offering anyone in the room one of his spare penguins that he had borough with his lunch. I was lucky enough to chat to him on many occasions and I have learned so much from him. Our thought’s and prayers are with his family at this sad time, he will be missed my many.
We can only think of one word that decribes Doug, legendary. Although he has support Perth Phoenix to grow as a club, he has greatly supported our team this season too. We have all been greatful for the advice and encouragement when he knew we'd probably get beaten anyway.
Off the court Doug was a kind man who took interest in people. Again he would love to offer advice or just tell you a joke to make to smile.
Doug's memory will always be at the heart of Basketball Tayside and Fife, he has influenced so many players throughout his career.
Our thoughts and best wishes are with his family at this sad time.
We'll miss you Doug! xx
I will miss Douglas greatly. He was one of the great characters of Scottish Basketball - Kevin is so right about his habit of flattening his hair before singalling a foul - that brings back many happy memories of refereeing with Douglas.
i first met Douglas when I was starting out as a young referee in the National League. He was always keen to help in his gentle way and pass on his experience.
Douglas and I spent many hours driving to and from Inverness to referee together and he bravely put up with my driving - although he nearly thought better of it when he woke up to discover that the windscreen was clouded by spray as we were overtaking a lorry - he started up with fright before I was able to explain that I wasn't on the wrong side of the road because this bit was dual carriageway.
During those long car journeys I got to know Douglas well - he was a very gentle man and I learned a lot from him about how he had handled many difficult situations on the basketball court with a smile.
Douglas was a man with a wide range of interests outside basketball. First and foremost I learned a lot about his family although I haven't had the privilege of meeting them. My thoughts are with them and I hope that the many appreciations appearing on this web page bring them comfort.
But we talked about many other things he cared about - education, Gilbert & Sullivan, foreign languages and foreign travel. I regret that I won't be able to take one of those journeys again and explore new topics with him.
I cannot adequately sum up Douglas - he was too special for that - but he was one of the most gentle yet powerful people I have ever met.
Basketball Scotland has lost a great contributor to the sport and I have lost a great friend.
Damian
George Valentine, FIBA National Instructor said...
Today my thoughts and prayers go out to May and her sons. They have lost a wonderful man and father.
Doug was the true gentleman and scholar always willing to help and give advice to younger and up & coming officials. We used to greet each other in French and he would always have a huge smile on his face. I have spent many a day travelling to games with Doug and I am honoured to have been classed as a friend by him.
In basketball games when he used to referee if their had been a few bodies bumping together or a 50/50 charge/block Doug would blow his whistle then, to the consternation of opposing players and coaches, call a travelling violation. How many people remember that call?
Basketball has lost a true friend.
Au revoir mon ami
It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I record my thoughts on Dougie - the ultimate gentleman of basketball.
Dougie was a legend - who else could have given Willie Cameron at the height of his playing career his fifth foul and lived to tell the tale?
Who else in Scottish basketball has had to request a police escort off the American base at Edzell? All because the base captain had the temerity to question Dougie's calls and when Dougie was politely pointing out that he was in charge of the game - the captain pointed out that Dougie was on 'American soil' so Dougie stopped the game and demanded to be escorted off by his own police force!
He gave so much to basketball and always had time to support and encourage young players and officials. He will be sadly missed by many.
My thoughts and prayers are with his wife and sons at this sad time.
Douglas wae a good referee and a great servant to Scottish Basketball. He will be missed by all who knew him. Ronnie Gordon
I just found out (from NZ) about Dougie and it's brought tears to my eyes.
I was only involved with Basketball Scotland for 18 months but Dougie was one of the special ones. He was so helpful and always willing to go the extra mile, but so modest about his achievements and everything he had to offer. If I wanted an opinion on something, I knew I could count on Dougie to set me straight.
I know that basketball in Scotland has truly lost a great man.
I have fond memories of Doogie. From my time with the Sharks through the Muskies, he was fair and honest. He took the game as seriously as anyone I've ever known, but I envied his humo(u)r and great equanimity under high pressure--not that I had anything to do with that. Just a fine man. I miss you all. The Kellogg's will toast his memory.
I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to leave a memory of my dad, I learned one or two things I never knew! I can just see him demanding a police escort from an American base!
I can speak of his dedication to the sport of basketball, having fielded the scores of calls in the evenings to refereeing games, and his lively recounts of the highlights of the matches. Even though I did not share his sporting talents, I couldn't help but be caught up in his enthusiasm and his sense of humour.
As his son, we shared many opinions, not always in agreement! But I can truthfully and honestly say, I never doubted he had my best interests at heart and that he loved me, whether he was pleased or angry with me. I have met few other people that I respected whether or not I agreed with them. I am glad that he lived to share my proudest moment, graduating from his own alma mater, the University of Glasgow and being inducted into the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
I miss his guidance, which he was always willing to give, and whether I agreed or not, would always have another angle to consider which I hadn't thought of.
Keith Bader, Illinois, USA
email: keithbader5@hotmail.com
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