Basketball stalwart David Rout was inducted into the Basketball New Zealand Hall of Fame last week. Reporter Adrian Seconi caught up with him at his home in St Clair and asked what the award meant to him.
You need to take a deep breath and talk fast to list all of David Rout's achievements.
His contribution to basketball has spanned eight decades and the tireless servant has never sought any recognition.
Thankfully, his wonderful service to the sport has not slipped by unnoticed and last week the 84-year-old was inducted into the newly formed Basketball New Zealand Hall of Fame.
He is one of 14 original inductees, which include giants of the game like Stan Hill and Sir Lance Cross.
Despite his long service, Rout was taken back when he received the news.
"When they rang up, my wife could see me sort of looking and listening. I was gobsmacked. I didn't expect anything like this,'' Rout said.
"What I did for basketball I did because I got so much enjoyment out of it. But to be recognised like this is pretty special.''
Rout was introduced to the sport at Southland Boys' High School in 1945.
He continued to play while at teachers college in Dunedin in the early 1950s but rugby was his first love.
However, after a third concussion, he decided to stop playing and became more involved in basketball.
While teaching at Naenae College in Lower Hutt, he began coaching.
The school gym was used by the Hutt Valley Association and it was not long before he was encouraged to join the Hutt Valley executive committee.
Rout and his wife, Beckie, moved to Ashburton in the late 1950s and he got involved in the Mid Canterbury Basketball Association.
He was a player-coach for the representative team and, of course, continued to coach the school team where he worked.
He developed an interest in refereeing during his eight years in Ashburton.
When he moved to Dunedin in 1968 he was approached by the Otago Men's Basketball Association and agreed to join the following year.
He served two stints as president and was elected to the executive of the New Zealand Men's Basketball Federation in 1974.
The women's and men's federations combined in 1975 and he served for 15 years and was president from 1986 to 1990.
He attended Oceania congress meetings from 1985 to 1993 and ran coaching clinics and administration seminars on behalf of Fiba Oceania in Fiji and the Cook Islands.
In 1986 he was appointed by the Oceania Confederation as its delegate to the Fiba committee for miniball.
His breathless achievement has seen him honoured with many awards. He is a life member of Basketball New Zealand and Basketball Otago.
He is a past recipient of the Sir Lance Cross Award (2002) and received a Member of Honour of Fiba Oceania (2003) for his outstanding services in the Fiba Oceania Zone.
All of the honours pale in comparison to the joy he has extracted from the game.
After a lifetime dedicated to basketball he has many wonderful memories but two, in particular, stick out.
Working with young people has always been a thrill and he remembers coaching one boy.
"He didn't have a clue, the poor kid, but he tried so hard. He had all sorts of trouble doing a lay-up. He always progressed.
"But in one game he did a perfect lay-up and he turned around to me and smiled. It went from ear to ear but meanwhile, the other team was scoring at the other end of the court. It was just one of those very delightful moments.
"The other moment was when Maud Boock came to me and said we've got this girl whose skill level is really good but she is not getting pushed and she would like to go in your team.
"You'll know who the captain of the New Zealand women's cricket team is? The little girl who came to me was Suzie Bates.''
Bates played for the Tall Ferns at the 2008 Olympics but had to give the sport away when she was made White Ferns captain.
Rout played a small part in her rise from schoolgirl prodigy to dual international and memories like that have been the biggest reward.
Rout was not the only basketball person from Otago to be recognised last week.
Rae Garland received the Ian Goodwin services to officiating award for her huge contribution to basketball in the region.
Garland co-ordinates the referees for all club and school basketball, as well as for Basketball New Zealand-affiliated tournaments held in Dunedin.
She officiates in more than 100 matches every season and helps co-ordinate rules sessions, from senior level through to a grassroots education programme.
