Nora June McDermott (June 25, 1927 – May 16, 2013) was a Canadian basketball and volleyball player, coach and physical education teacher in two Vancouver secondary schools. She played for the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

(UBC) Thunderettes varsity basketball team from 1945 to 1946 and again from 1948 to 1949 with victories in two senior "B" championships. McDermott won nine Dominion basketball titles with the Vancouver Eilers throughout the 1950s and played for the Canada team in three editions of the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

from 1955 to 1963. She coached the bronze medal winning women's basketball squad at the

1967 Pan American Games The 1967 Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from July 23 to August 6, 1967. Winnipeg was chosen as host of the Pan American Games on its second try. It first bid for the 1963 Games at the 1959 PASO meeting in Chicago ...

and taught physical education in Vancouver secondary schools for a total of 40 years. McDermott won two Canadian volleyball club championships with the Vancouver Alums side. She is an inductee of various Halls of Fame and has a school scholarship named after her.

Early life and education

On June 25, 1927, McDermott was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. Her mother, Frances Margaret ( Harrison), was a domestic, and her father, Hugh Joachim McDermott, was a lather and plasterer. McDermott had two sisters. Once construction jobs became scarce during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, her father collected relief after walking from the home in the east side to

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

. She attended

John Oliver Secondary School John Oliver Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street (between the Vancouver neighbourhoods of Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Riley Park-Little Mountain and Suns ...

in Vancouver, and graduated at the top of her class with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in physical education from the

(UBC) in 1949 as well as six varsity letters called the Big Blocks. McDermott added a

Bachelor of Physical Education A Bachelor of Physical Education (BPE or BPhEd) is a bachelor degree granted by some universities. In many Canadian universities it has been replaced by a Bachelor of Kinesiology. The degree can include topics such as sport science, coaching, and ...

degree in 1956.

Career

She took up basketball in Grade 11 and also played

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

. McDermott qualified for the Thunderettes varsity basketball team in her first year at UBC. She played for the team from 1945 to 1946 and again from 1948 to 1949 and teamed with Mearnie Summers to led the squad to the 1946/47 and the 1947/48 Vancouver Senior 'B' championships. McDermott was also on the field hockey team and impressed coach May Brown with how she encouraged her teammates at critical moments. She was a member of the Women's Athletic Doctorate and was initiated into the UBC's honorary Delta Sigma Pi sorority due to " the quality of her scholarship, leadership and service." Following graduation from UBC, McDermott continued to support its program and aided players through the Millennium Breakfast and Ruth Wilson Memorial Scholarship programs. She joined the Vancouver Eilers in 1950 and led the team to its maiden Dominion title that same year. Overall McDermott won the title a record nine times in a row during the 1950s, and claimed the 1955 British Columbia Championship. She played for Canada three times at the

: in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

as part of the first Canadian women's side to play internationally; in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. For the

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, McDermott managed the women's basketball team that claimed the bronze medal. She also played volleyball, winning the 1962 and 1964 Canadian club championships with the Vancouver Alums side. McDermott taught at John Oliver Secondary School for 1 decades. In 1962, she was appointed

Eric Hamber Secondary School Eric Hamber Secondary School is a public secondary school located in the South Cambie neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Eric Hamber is a comprehensive secondary school with approximately 1400 students. Each year, approximatel ...

's head of its physical education department when the school opened that year, becoming the first female to lead a physical educational department in Vancouver. McDermott retired after 2 decades of teaching at Eric Hamber and 40 overall including John Oliver Secondary School in 1987. She was coach of at least three high school teams per year for 27 years. McDermott had a final managerial stint coaching a squad of players aged 65 and over called the "Retreads" who were featured in the documentary ''The Oldest Basketball Team in the World''.

Personal life

She was a Catholic. On May 16, 2013, McDermott died at

Lions Gate Hospital Lions Gate Hospital (LGH) is a 268-bed medical facility located in North Vancouver (city), North Vancouver, British Columbia. The hospital is part of and operated by Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), the regional health au ...

, North Vancouver after a short illness. A funeral mass was held for her at the St. Pius X Catholic Church, North Vancouver on the morning of May 24.

Legacy and honours

McDermott was inducted into the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...

in 1991 as a member of the 1954–55 Vancouver Eilers. In 1996, she was added to the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. The gymnasium at Eric Hamber Secondary School was dedicated to her and fellow colleague Bruce Ashdown as part of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the educational institute. McDermott's family established a scholarship in her name for students at Eric Hamber Secondary School. In March 2020, she was named to the Top 100

U Sports women's basketball U Sports women's basketball is the highest level of play of women's basketball at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. There are 48 teams, all of which are based in Canada, that are d ...

Players of the Century (1920-2020).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDermott, Nora 1927 births 2013 deaths Basketball players from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian women 21st-century Canadian women University of British Columbia alumni Canadian women's basketball players UBC Thunderbirds basketball players Canadian women's volleyball players Canadian basketball coaches Pan American Games competitors for Canada Basketball players at the 1955 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1963 Pan American Games John Oliver Secondary School alumni