Nora McDermott

Nora June McDermott (June 25, 1927 – May 16, 2013) was a Canadian basketball and volleyball player, coach and physical education teacher in two Vancouver secondary schools. She played for the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderettes varsity basketball team from 1945 to 1946 and again from 1948 to 1949 with victories in two senior "B" championships. McDermott won nine Dominion basketball titles with the Vancouver Eilers throughout the 1950s and played for the Canada team in three editions of the Pan American Games from 1955 to 1963. She coached the bronze medal winning women's basketball squad at the 1967 Pan American Games and taught physical education in Vancouver secondary schools for a total of 40 years. McDermott won two Canadian volleyball club championships with the Vancouver Alums side. She is an inductee of various Halls of Fame and has a school scholarship named after her.

Early life and education On June 25, 1927, McDermott was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her mother, Frances Margaret ( Harrison), was a domestic, and her father, Hugh Joachim McDermott, was a lather and plasterer. McDermott had two sisters. Once construction jobs became scarce during the Great Depression, her father collected relief after walking from the home in the east side to downtown. She attended John Oliver Secondary School in Vancouver, and graduated at the top of her class with a Bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1949 as well as six varsity letters called the Big Blocks.

Career She took up basketball in Grade 11 and also played field hockey. She was a member of the Women's Athletic Doctorate and was initiated into the UBC's honorary Delta Sigma Pi sorority due to " the quality of her scholarship, leadership and service." in 1959 in Chicago and in 1963 in São Paulo. For the 1967 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, McDermott managed the women's basketball team that claimed the bronze medal. becoming the first female to lead a physical educational department in Vancouver.