Johnson: Silver medal is just the start

The silver medal he won as a member of the Guam Masters Basketball 65-and-over squad in the recent 2006 Pan Pacific Masters Games is just the start for 69-year-old Ed Johnson.

After returning to Saipan from his stint in the Land Down Under, Johnson explained that while his experience was “incredible and amazing,” he is already looking forward to competing in the World Masters Games in 2009 in Sydney, Australia.

“The whole experience was encouraging to me to see that many people are still active at a high skill level at that age,” he said. “I got in and contributed. I made shots and got a few steals…its hard to win and be an impact player when you’re playing with a team that doesn’t know you and you don’t know them. But now, I’m going to shoot for the World Masters in three more years. If we have a team from Saipan, then of course I would really love to play on that team, but if we can’t field a team, then I’m going to join in with the Guam team because they’ll have a 70-over team.”

Johnson and company played in the gold medal game and placed second despite having a rough start. The team lost its first two games, but refused to let the losses affect their charge. With that, the team responded with two consecutive wins to earn an appearance in the finals.

“We were able to beat the No. 2 team, and that team beat us earlier, so it was good for us,” Johnson said.

The Guam team battled Mist and Legends for the gold medal, and after a pretty even first half, the Mist and Legends crew of Australia was able to use its height advantage and interior play to pull ahead for the gold.

“They were a little better in getting the interior passing, and of course, they had us on rebounds…these were really big guys,” Johnson said. “Mist and Legends have been together for a long time. There are a number of clubs with the same name in different cities in Australia, and they would gather the best players for the team in the different age groups for the competition.”

Not only was the Mist and Legends dominant with the height advantage, but Johnson had to hold his own as he was the smallest player in the tournament.

“I was the smallest player in the whole tournament, but because of that, I was among the fastest,” Johnson said.

Johnson also suited up for the 45-and-over squad after several members of the team were hit with flight delays and missed the games.

“I was proud to go down and be part of team Guam, which is known at Masters and has been medalists, so just to go with team was good experience,” Johnson said. “To get there and see that there are some few high level players keeping healthy with an activity level up there…it’s really inspiring. It’s a great experience and motivator to see a lot of people still having the desire, motivation, and spirit. I learned a lot of things.”

The competition was held from Nov. 4 to Nov. 12 in Gold Coast.