Six decades, countless calls: Bush earns state honour for 60 years of service

GEELONG basketball stalwart Rod Bush has been recognised for a lifetime of service to the game, receiving a Basketball Victoria Service Award for 60 years of contribution.

The honour was announced last month during National Volunteer Week, with Basketball Victoria celebrating individuals who have helped shape basketball communities across the state.

While his influence extended throughout northeast Victoria and beyond, Bush has long been a key figure in the Geelong basketball community.

Over six decades he served in a range of officiating, development and administrative roles, including almost a decade as president of the Basketball Victoria Country Council and chair of the Technical Officials Commission.

“I don’t think I ever imagined it was going to be a lifelong commitment at all, it just grew as my experiences grew,” Bush said. “I think beginning refereeing in the country exposed me to a lot of kids that I thought had potential to go on, however they weren’t taking advantage of that.

“We were, in my mind, doing some great initiatives in terms of referee development in the country and I saw the kids benefitting from this and it just continued.”

Reflecting on his career, Bush said officiating helped develop a sense of resilience that became one of the most valuable lessons he could pass on to others.

“What appealed to me most about refereeing was that it brought out something in me that I wasn’t aware of and that was a capacity to remain calm when those around were getting agitated or distracted or angry,” he said.

“I realised the benefit of this as a life skill and did my best to try and inculcate this sort of attitude in the referees that I dealt with.”

He said he took pride in helping develop regional officials who have gone on to enjoy long and respected careers, including Geelong referees Shannon Jennings, Mitch Lay and Joel Lay, who have all enjoyed long and respected tenures in the officiating space.

“The old adage used to be once you start working the country, it’s as far as you’re going to go, but I think the initiatives we’ve worked on prove that not to be the case,” Bush said.

“You can indeed progress to the top.”

Among his proudest achievements, Bush cited earning his Australian Referee badge and helping establish a referee training pathway during the Covid-19 pandemic after returning to Geelong from a state-level role.

“The response still amazes me,” he said. “We have had over 2,000 do the course from across the state, mainly from regional areas.”

Bush retired earlier this year and said he remained grateful to his family for supporting his long involvement in the sport.

“I guess we stick at things because we like them or we get good responses, and that’s very much the case with my work in basketball,” he said. “I enjoyed working with young people and watching them grow.

“I enjoyed the challenge of working in higher leagues and I enjoy working with those with leadership roles in the sport. They are very dedicated, very competent and supportive.”