After the fantastic success of the Kats in this year's Scottish Cup, some of the more senior members of the club recalled that it was exactly 20 years ago that the Kats first became Scottish Cup champions.
If you would like to read more about this year's Kool Kat's win there's a full match report on the BasketballScotland website or why not check out the game statistics.
You can also read below the thoughts of two of our club members who were involved that day 20 years ago! See how many people you can spot in the photos of the day, all those years ago. Also just added is a little note from the coach in 1994 - Toni Szifris.
Unfortunately, the U16 Men were not so lucky in their Cup Final, going down bravely to a tough St Mirren team. You can read the statistics for this match here.
By Brian Findlay
In 1994 Tracey Phillips was part of a very young (Beefeater) Kool Kats team who took on the might of Livingston SW sponsored by MIM in the Scottish Cup Final. For Kats, it was their first Final and the game was at Ainslie Park Leisure Centre, in front of a large crowd on both sides of the Hall.
Toni Szifris was Kats coach then and his daughter Kara, Joanna Sutherland (Sandy's daughter), Charlotte Nelson, Vivien Ross (who now has a son at Porty) and Tracey were the mainstays of the team. They were all under 20 years old and had only been in Div 1 (yes, there were 2 Senior Women leagues then) for a couple of short seasons, and their excitement was huge.
The BasketballScotland game report at the time detailled the 3-pointer scored by Joanna with 4 secs to go in overtime for Kats to take the Cup by 1point.
Dr Tracey Phillips had been a big part of Kats since early in their history and last Sunday (2nd Feb 2014), 20 years later, she played another big part in their latest Scottish Cup success when they beat St Maurice's Rocks at the Lagoon LC in Paisley. Her encouragement in offence and calming words in defence have brought out the best in players like Hannah, Rose and the rest of the SW squad.
She will say the Cup win was a team effort, and so it was, but Tracey is a role model for all our young players at the Club, who could do much worse than emulate her enthusiasm and work ethic. No wonder she is still on the winning team !!
By Tracey Phillips
My recollection from the '94 final is a bit patchy. I do remember feeling very excited and nervous. I think we had made it to the final before this but had lost, so this gave it an extra edge. Also, the venue of Ainslie Park was one that we hadn't played in before as finals were typically held at Meadowbank.
And of course, the final piece of the puzzle was our opponents - Livingston - they had been the dominant club for many years with GB and Scottish internationalists at all positions. Just 4 years previous, we were drawn against them in the opening rounds of the cup, and they handed us a near 100 point thrashing with their start-to-finish full court press. We never forgot that encounter and it served as a great motivator for the final in '94.
In terms of the game, the main things I recall off the floor was a noisy crowd crammed in to limited space. On the floor, the two things that stick out in my mind were toward the end of the game. Livingston had the last possession of the game in regular time and one of their forwards drove, I fouled her, and time expired. I wanted the ground to swallow me up. The game was tied and here I'd given them the chance to win it with free throws.
As it happened, Lady Luck was smiling down on us and they missed both taking the game to overtime. Well into the overtime period we were down by 2 and staring defeat in the face. It felt as if everything was in slow motion, the shot clock is winding down, we're down 2, no time-outs left, passes in and out and it comes to Joanna. Just on the 3-point line, she peers down steps back and releases the 3 pointer. Pause. Swoosh. Sheer delight.
Then 20 years later, find myself fortunate enough to be playing in another cup final. Obviously have more experience to draw on compared to years past, but still get the butterflies and excitement inherent to these big occasions.
Battles with Rocks remind me of the tussles we had with Livingston, different players yes, but the same desires and efforts to win and outperform your opposition demonstrated by both sides. And this is what keeps me wanting to come back for more.
Lady Luck is still shining down on me, and I'm just grateful I've had the privilege to be a member of some excellent teams and had the support of great team mates. Long may it continue.
Back row l-r: Vivien Ross, Tracy Phillips, Jenny Duff, Biff, Toni, Vlasta Jamnicky.
Front row l-r: Louise McGregor, Charlotte Nelson, Lisa Thompson, Kara Szifris, Sarah Harris.
By Toni Szifris
The starting 5 was Kara Szfris at point Joanna Sutherland and Tracey Phillips at forward and Vlasta Jamnicky and Jenny Duff inside. Lisa Thomson and Viv Ross came off the bench followed by a short spell from Charlotte Nelson, who was just a kid, and Louise McGregor. The average age of the team was 19 which to my knowledge is the youngest ever.
This team changed the face of women's basketball in Scotland with their full court game with variations on presses and total fast break. All the other teams had to learn to play against pressure. I see over the good years that have followed that this is still what wins games for the Kats.
Jo's final 3 pointer was not all chance. The forwards were taught to shift round for the 3 pointer to the spot where the guard penetrated the 3 point line. That was what happened, penetration and kick from Kara and the glory shot from Jo.
Just for interest the Kool Kats name came from our first home venue during the teachers' strikes in the early eighties when we could not coach at school. We went to the Jack Kane Centre and called the team the Jack Kane Kool Kats which we thought had a bit of a ring to it.
I must congratulate Brian for being a six time cup winner and Ben for his five with the Kat's and others previously with the All Blacks.
