Remembering Bill Christy:Founder of Greensboro Emeralds Womens’ AAU Basketball Program

Bill Christy passed away this week at the age of 72 and he was a pioneer in developing girls/women’s AAU Basketball in our area…

I first met Bill and his wife Jean back in the early 80’s and had the chance to send him a few basketball players for his AAU teams back in those days…Bill’s daughters played high school basketball at Southwest Guilford High School and then later they played for the Greensboro College Hornets…Pretty sure his daughter Donna Christy later coached the girls team at Southwest Guilford….

Basketball was in Bill’s blood and he did tons to help with the girl’s AAU basketball formation in our city/area and all over the state and the nation…Bill Christy was a good man, a great father and a husband that made his wife Jean proud to be a part of the Christy’s…Bill told me that he used to drive a milk delivery truck back in his day and if did that, he had my respect because that was never a easy job, back in the days of taking those bottles of milk door-to-door….

RIP Bill Christy and thanks for what you did with your family and in your community..Bill and Bob Doss were very good friends back in the days and I think those two men must have been cut from the same cloth….

from today’s(Friday) News and Record on Bill Christy…..(www.news-record.com)

Bill supervised gyms and fields for Greensboro Parks and Recreation. He also coached many traveling men’s slow-pitch teams and coached in the city league at Lewis Recreation in the 12U division, winning a city championship in 1970-1971. He also officiated college basketball games for many years. The father of three daughters, Bill realized that the sports world was not as kind to females who had talent and desire to participate in sports. He initiated the Greensboro Emeralds Basketball Club in 1983 and affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union. Bill took over as District Sports Director in North Carolina for Girls Basketball in 1990 and ended his tenure in 2006. As a member of the National AAU Girls Basketball Committee, Bill twice was honored with the Ruthie Webster Memorial Award for Outstanding Service by the National AAU Girls Basketball Committee. It was his suggestion that the committee add an event for “all-district” squads to compete in a National Championship. Many of the other District Sport Directors agreed and the AAU Junior Olympic Games Girls Basketball Championship was born. Bill’s “Team North Carolina” won four National Championships in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006.

Read more on Bill Christy from the News and Record when you CLICK HERE….

One thought on “Remembering Bill Christy:Founder of Greensboro Emeralds Womens’ AAU Basketball Program

  1. I played softball for Bill back in the day and he was truly a “good guy”. Had not seen him in a long time, but he was always willing to help out a friend. For many years he used to set up shop at Stoner-White and sell screen printed shirts for Bob Doss during the Palomino World Series. Rip, Bill.

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