The driving force behind the inauguration of basketball in the Island was Joe Wilson who came as a teacher to the Island in 1960. He had coached Loughborough Colleges (UK) in the late fifties, and his experience and enthusiasm led him in the early nineteen sixties to organise inter-school competitions and began adult classes to cater for the increase in interest.

To develop the sport Joe arranged competitive matches by hiring the tomato packing sheds at 50p ($0.70) per night. It was far from ideal as there were no markings on the concrete floor. They had to chalk in the lines each week., and the home-made portable rings were transported by lorry. To start with there were two leagues with three teams in each. Names like Caterpillars, Octopi, Strollers, Minstrels and Rebels were used.

The following season the badminton hall was built and for the privilege of improved facilities they had to pay the princely sum of £1.50 ($1.10) each week. The court was full size and Joe again built the back -boards. The sport had arrived with now 5 leagues, including 2 junior leagues. Games were scheduled to start at 4.30pm, and by the time the seniors finished the last game it was invariably past midnight.  In 1969 the teams competing in the leagues were:

Seniors - Cats,  Mystics,  Forresters         Juniors - Lions,  Wombats,  Pumas,   Tigers

The badminton hall tournament, staged two years after the tomato packing shed experiment, just about did the trick.  The sprung maple wooden floor was ideal for the sport and the game soon grabbed the attention of would-be players, particularly those introduced to it at school level where basketball enthusiasts such as Ian Curle, Robbie Burns, Bryan Preston and Tony Taylor drove the sport forward.  Financially the badminton hall experiment was a minor disaster and whether it was coincidental or not the man behind the two ventures, Wilson, left the island to accept a post as youth centre manager in the south of England.  He was a sad loss but, whatever his frustration, he had lit the flame of a sport which had steadily grown stronger with every passing decade.

After Joe Wilson left the Island in January 1969 the Guernsey Basketball Association was formed. The leading figures were Robbie Burns, Ian Curle, Terry Le Huray and Carl Clay. There was a new venue for the 1969 season after the opening of the new St Peter Port School, and for eight years the sport had a base, with games being played two nights each week. The first game in the Guernsey Basketball Association League history was on 7^th November 1969 when Zivermeeuw Kats beat Saints 25-13. The majority of scores in the early days of the league were quite low. In 1970 the league teams had the quaint and interesting names of Jargonauts(Junior Winners), Raccoons (Senior Winners), Ziv Cats, Zebras, Saints, Breakaways, Electrons, Orbiters and Harlequins.

A new chapter began after Robbie Burns became involved. He followed in the footsteps of Joe Wilson and was as equally dedicated to the sport. Being a sports teacher like Joe he spent all his spare time coaching, after going to the UK to qualify. The season after his return he set up a club called Fiat Lux which became the leading club in the Island, and at its height ran 7 teams, all named after the models of Fiat cars at the time - Fiat 124, Fiat 125, Fiat 128, Fiat 130, Fiat 850, etc.

In 1972 Robbie became the first graded referee in the Island and set up courses for would be officials. Kerry Mumford from the EBBA passed 7 new referees after the first course. The following year Terry Barnett, a top International referee, examined and passed a further 6 referees.

In 1970 the Islands of Guernsey and Jersey began basketball matches against each other. The rivalry was keen, just as it was and still is between the Islands in other sports. Nowadays the matches played are Men, Women, and Under 19 Men, and these matches are played in each Island on alternate years.

In September 1976 Guernsey opened the Beau Sejour Leisure Centre in St Peter Port and basketball moved once again. The progress of the sport has been rapid since that time. With the advent of 'summer schools' many of the young players have improved the skill level locally, and in 1997 there were 120 senior players and 100 juniors. There are now three divisions with 16 teams competing, playing on two evenings per week, the schools leagues continue with matches at three age groups. Trevor Pountain, a FIBA referee, has visited us from the UK for the past few years to run officials courses, and coaching courses have also been run thanks to the sponsorship from NatWest.  Since Trevor Pountain there have been several refereeing courses held by Roger Harrison, another FIBA official of many years standing.

The annual Inter-Insular matches against Jersey are the highlight of the year and details can be seen on the Inter-Insular page.

Ten years ago the Channel Islands Club Championships was started between the winners of the basketball league in each Island.  The winners are currently Le Mont Saint from Guernsey with the title wins standing at 9-5 to Guernsey.  The women's champions match started a little later, the holders are Collins Stewart from Guernsey, and the standing so far is 8-2 to Guernsey.

The Island of Guernsey takes part in a biannual 'Island Games' event. The inaugural Games were in the Isle of Man in 1985.  In 1989 Guernsey held them for the first time, and in 1997 they were in our sister island of Jersey.  Basketball made its appearance as one of the 14 sports for the first time in Gotland in 1999.  The Guernsey men's team took part, there were 9 men's and 4 women's teams, Guernsey finishing 9th.  In 2001 the Games were held in the Isle of Man where 8 men's teams and 6 women's teams took part.  The men finished 8th and the women's team were proud and deserved bronze medal winners.  Guernsey were the hosts for the Games once more in 2003 and Guernsey women's team won the gold medal.  In 2005 in the Shetland Isles basketball was very disappointingly not been included but Gibraltar kindly volunteered to hold a tournament.  In 2007 the Games were in Rhodes where the men finished 10th and the women 4th.  2009 saw the games held in Aland where the women's team won silver losing to Menorca but the men did not send a team.  In 2011 the games are in the Isle of Wight.

The island women ventured into the English Basketball Association National League division 2 in 2008-2009 where they finished half way up the table.  In 2009-2010 the men joined the women in this initiative and played in division 4.  Both teams are currently just below half way in the table but have gained valuable experience.