Claude Williams (born 1952) is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

athlete who has played both

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

for his home state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, going on to become the first Aboriginal basketball coach in Australia.

Early life

Claude Williams was born in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of Camperdown in 1952, the son of country musician Claude "Candy" Williams, and first cousin to Harry Williams, the first Indigenous soccer player to represent the

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

at a World Cup, in 1974.

Early sports career

Williams began his sporting career in

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, playing for the

Sydney Cricket Club Sydney Cricket Club play in the Sydney Grade Cricket Competition. In 2007 the UTS-Balmain club formed a partnership with the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust and are now known as Sydney CC or Sydney Cricket Club or just simply Sydney Tigers. The Tig ...

in the AW Green Shield competition. The New South Wales Tennis Association then selected him to join their elite program. He then started getting interested in Rugby League, and played 12 games for the

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...

in the 1972–73 season, while playing basketball in between.

Basketball

In basketball, Williams represented

in 1976, 1977, 1979, and 1981. He played on multiple occasions in the National Titles and Australian Club Championships. He played 101 games in the National Basketball League for the City of Sydney Astronauts and the

Sydney Supersonics The Sydney Supersonics are a defunct basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). The team joined the NBL in 1979 as the City of Sydney Astronauts, becoming the Sydney Supersonics in 1982 as a result of a merge ...

between 1979 and 1986. William was appointed assistant coach of the Supersonics for the 1986–87 season, and then head coach of the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

, with this appointment becoming the first and only Aboriginal basketball coach. In 1989–90, he served as assistant coach of the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

. In 2015 he was working in the after-school program at the

National Centre of Indigenous Excellence The Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) is an Australian federal government statutory authority with national responsibilities to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to acquire land and to manage assets to achieve cultural ...

in Redfern.

Other activities

In 2010, Williams was presenting the weekly radio program ''The Sweet Science'' on

Koori Radio Koori Radio (callsign 2LND), formerly Radio Redfern, is a community radio station based in Redfern broadcasting to Sydney on a citywide licence. It is part of the Gadigal Information Service (GIS) and is the only radio station in Sydney provi ...

. The program was focused on history and issues related to Indigenous

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, and won a

Community Broadcasting Association of Australia The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) is the peak body and the national representative organisation for community radio and television stations in Australia. The CBAA provide leadership, advocacy and support for members to ac ...

Award for Contribution to Indigenous Broadcasting. He was event co-ordinator for the National Indigenous 3on3 Basketball and Hip Hop Challenge ("Vibe 3on3"), a two-day youth festival that included basketball, music, dancing, art, and other cultural activities, travelling to Aboriginal communities across the country.

Recognition

*1994: Inductee of the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Hall of Fame The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1994 to recognise Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) that have achieved at the highest level of their chosen sport. It was a joint project of the ...

*2021: Inaugural Claude Williams Most Valuable Player award announced by the Sydney Kings, presented to the best player during the annual Indigenous Round

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Claude Indigenous Australian basketball players Basketball players from Sydney Indigenous Australian rugby league players 1952 births Living people