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27 Oct 2009

Former members of the Australian Institute of Sport Men’s Basketball program from 1985 to 1987 gathered for a reunion in Sydney to pay their respects to Bev Stelzer, who recently passed away.

Bev was the mother of Canberra-based former AIS basketballer John Stelzer, and was a great supporter of the AIS program. The reunion was organised by former AIS basketballers Shane Froling  who now lives in Townsville with his wife Jenny Lind and their four children. 

Shane said Bev was like a surrogate mother to many of the boys in the AIS Men’s Basketball program while they were living away from home.

‘She was a beautiful woman who welcomed and loved all of us and she will be sadly missed,’ Shane said. 

‘Her parting gift was to bring us all together again,’ he said.

Shane now works in the Australian Sports Commission’s Active After-school Communities program in Townsville. Jenny is a teacher’s aide and basketball referee.

John Stelzer manages the University of Canberra Sports and Fitness Centre, specialising in strength and conditioning, and recently became the proud father of a son.

All of the former AIS basketballers who gathered for the reunion went on to play basketball for Australia at senior or junior level.

Those present at the reunion included:

• Marty Clarke, who is the head coach of the AIS Men’s Basketball program and the Australian Emus under-20 team, and assistant coach of the Australian Boomers. He married former AIS basketballer Julie Wiltz and they have four children
• Patrick Hunt, former AIS Men’s Basketball coach, who advises coaches in AIS sports programs on competition planning
• Paul Zadow, who owns a surgical instrument supply company based in Adelaide that sells products to an international market
• Tony Boniello, who is a financial adviser in Melbourne, specialising in retirement investment. He and his wife, former AIS netballer Liz Taverner, have recently become parents 
• Peter Hill, who runs a computer business on the Gold Coast, providing programs and services to mining companies based in Queensland and overseas 
• Shane Heal, who lives on the Gold Coast and combines business interests with his role as an assistant coach of the Australian Boomers. He is also involved with the Runaway Bay Basketball Club, based on the Gold Coast 
• Andrew Vlahov, who is involved in international sport and entertainment promotion and lives in Perth. He previously owned and ran the Perth Wildcats basketball team.