A Short
History of TABC
The
Texas Association of Basketball Coaches was born amidst a strong desire of a
small group of basketball coaches in the state to see the sport of basketball attain
a semblance of recognition that it enjoyed in other states. It was during a
basketball clinic sponsored by the Waco Chamber of Commerce that a group of
less than 200 men assembled together and pledged their untiring support to
seeing the sport achieve the ranks of credibility. Goals were lofty, but
perseverance was plentiful, and so, with a burst of optimism that would excite
even the most eternal pessimist, the association was conceived. The month was
April; the year was 1975.
Growth
was slow during those first few years and the association struggled mightily to
get the recognition from the press that it so avidly desired. The Waco Chamber
continued to sponsor the clinic and TABC hung onto its coattails, hoping to
gain new membership as a by-product. Goals continued to be set…a longer
playing season, approval of summer camps and leagues, and a genuine Top Ten
list carried by the wire services. Lofty goals they were, and needless to say,
they were still years away.
A
small group of girls’ coaches showed interest in joining in with the
previously all-male TABC group in 1979 and so it was in 1980, that the
association’s board of directors voted to recruit girls
coaches with vigor and add girls coaches to its board. Promising results were
seen that first year and soon the membership goal of 1000 coaches seemed to be
realistic. In 1981, the association voted to hire Alton Ballard, who had been
the editor of the association’s newsletter since its inception, as its
Executive Director, a post he held until his death in April 2002. With someone
now on staff to spearhead membership drives and coordinate other efforts, the
hope was great that growth would soon become as steady as the membership would
have it be.
It
was! Membership zoomed past the 1000 mark in 1981 and the association then went
about its task of sending special liaisons to all meetings of the University
Interscholastic League Athletic and Legislative Councils in
Within
the credibility gained from statewide exposure through the media and its
success in legislative circles, more and more coaches and other friends of
basketball began to get involved with the association and support it with both
membership and praise. Because of this, in 1988 TABC was able to announce that,
with the signing up of 2250 members, it has surpassed the
By
the year 2000 TABC membership began flirting with the 3,000 plateau while the
May clinic boosted nearly 1,200 coaches and four all-star games. Add to that
the summer camps, Hall of Fame weekend and numerous awards and TABC was
prepared to make another surge.
But,
as Mr. Ballard’s health began to fail TABC was faced with a task it had
never performed; the hiring of a new executive director. When
In
2006-07 we reached a membership of 4,383 and had an all-time clinic attendance
of 2,036. We continue to strive for a goal of 4,500 members and hope to attain
that goal in the 2007-08 year.