April 27th, 2022Lawrie Johns Retirement Announcement

After 22 exemplary years of leadership with Basketball BC and the past 14 years as the Executive Director, Lawrie Johns has announced he is retiring as of May 6, 2022.

Lawrie, grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan where he met his late wife, Barbara and started a young family consisting of two sons, Kevin and Brian. Lawrie played basketball as a youth and coached basketball at a local Regina high school where he taught before moving on to refereeing/officiating for 20 years. Lawrie clearly has a long history and passion for the game of basketball, and sport in general. Lawrie stated, “sport has allowed Barb and me to travel the world following our two boys’ dreams and has enabled us to watch them fulfill them in their swimming careers.”

Lawrie’s impressive resume with Basketball BC saw him primarily work with youth basketball development during his first eight years. Some of his highlights of accomplishments were: the development of the U12 Metro League, which is now the Metro League; the successful guidance of the Jr. Grizzilies Youth Basketball program; and, the establishment of Steve Nash Youth Basketball programs, which were hugely successful and became a National Program throughout Canada.

Lawrie took on the Executive Director role as an Interim guiding Basketball BC through a challenging time 14 years ago. He eventually took the role permanently and led the organization into one of the most successful Provincial Sport Organizations in Canada. Lawrie’s brilliant career has witnessed many accomplishments over the years which are far too numerous to mention. His presence will dearly be missed by the Board of Directors, Basketball BC staff, the many basketball enthusiasts, and stakeholders throughout the province, as well as his many basketball friends he has established across Canada.

Basketball BC’s Board of Directors would like to thank Lawrie for all he has done for the game of basketball in this province and wish him all the best in his next chapter, which will undoubtedly include his two sons and his four young grandchildren. If you see Lawrie pushing a swing in a local park be sure to say Hi! He would insist on it!