The Westgate Basketball Association’s Alphan Culha has his daughter to thank for recently being named Basketball Victoria’s Volunteer of the Year.
Mr Culha said if it wasn’t for his daughter taking up the sport while at school, he never would’ve received the honour at Basketball Victoria’s annual awards night on 28 November.
“I don’t have a basketball background. I never played,” the 54-year-old said.
“My daughter wanted to play basketball and joined Williamstown Magic and the next day she said ‘dad we need a coach’.
“I’d previously only ever driven past basketball courts, but thought, ‘I’ll give it a go,’ and that’s how I started.”
From coaching his daughter’s team, Mr Culha became the association’s girls registrar, then boys registrar, then was appointed to its tribunal before eventually joining the board and becoming president.
“I’ve been president for the last four or five years,” he said, adding that the award belonged as much to his fellow volunteers as it did to him.
“As a volunteer, everything I do is with other volunteers who are part of a team so my recognition is a recognition of them too.”
As is often the way, Mr Culha’s involvement in basketball has long outlived that of his children. His daughter is now 22 and too old for junior competition, while his son also played basketball, but has since moved on.
Their father has no such plans though.
“It’s my way of giving back to the community,” he said.
