A growing reputation

And grow and grow.

The only thing for it was to take up basketball and some 25 years later he is still involved in the sport he 'grew' in to.

Now aged 42 and standing well over six feet in his size 11 trainers, Michael is the stalwart of the Burnley Basketball Club team in the Manchester Premier League and turns out for the Magpies in the Burnley and District Basketball League and also a junior coach.

But Michael's height is not the only thing to have grown as he has picked up a growing reputation as a junior coach.

And this week he was named Burnley coach of the Year by Lancashire Sport.

But going back a few decades and Michael remembers those pre-basketball days.

"Like most lads, I used to play football but I played a bit of badminton as well," recalls Michael prior to his growth spurt. "Then I shot up and just got too big to play football."

Michael's introduction to the fast flowing game of basketball came during its introduction during one term while he was at Colne Grammar.

"I took to it straight away and when I started playing basketball at Nelson College I became hooked."

While Michael has played competitive basketball since 1978, it is his junior coaching role that now takes prominence -- a role which earned him his coaching accolade.

Michael, a 'small' forward, has been coaching youngsters since 1995 with the Burnley Basketball Club Junior Section. The pleasure of seeing young players grow in the game is rewarding enough.

Awards are simply a bonus.

"I was very flattered when I heard I was named Coach of the Year but to be honest I was a little embarrassed because it is not the sort of thing I normally go in for.

"I don't really like to be in the spotlight for that sort of thing."

"What gave me more satisfaction was that in a recent league game, 40 of our 73 points in the win against Rainford had come from young players who had come up through the coaching programme.

"Now that gave me real pleasure because it proved what I was teaching the youngsters on the court was paying off as they had made it in to the senior set-up." Michael started playing for Burnley Basketball Club in 1978 reaching the heady heights of runners-up in the Manchester Premier League.

And while at a spell with Penwortham in Preston, Michael helped guide his team to another second place in the then elite North West Counties League -- picking up prized scalps such as Chester Jets along the way who now play in the Budweiser National League.

"I've enjoyed a fair bit of success over the years," said Michael who says that today's standard of basketball is a lot higher than when he first started.

"Back then the teams would be full of old players with a few youngsters. Now it is the other way around -- I just happen to be one of the older players these days."

But while Michael may now be 42, he still has plenty to offer the game at the highest level.

"As long as the positives outweigh the negatives then I will continue to play," said Michael who own personal highlights has been scoring 27 points a couple of times in league matches.

"I still enjoy playing at quite a high standard and I still believe I am doing a decent job for the team. I'm sure my team-mates would let me know if I wasn't!"

While the 'serious stuff' is played in the Manchester League the Burnley and District Basketball League offers a welcome distraction for Michael and the other players from the first string team. For Burnley have three sides in the league which acts as a feeder for the first time.

It also gives young players the opportunity to play.

Michael said: "It is a great little league to play in because it a chance for the younger players to get a taste of competitive basketball before they step up to the higher level.

"But for myself and a number of the other players it is more of a recreational sort of thing although we do take it seriously."

Burnley Basketball Club have three teams in the league who play under the names of Tappers, Colne Cougars and Magpies -- the team Michael currently plays for.

The league is played on the one venue at Hyndburn Leisure Centre and there is plenty of competition between the three teams.

"You always want to get one over the other teams from Burnley," said Michael. "We always raise our game when we are playing against The Tappers or Colne Cougars.

"You never want to lose those sorts of games."

Michael has won the treble on more than one occasion when the league was first formed for Burnley's Team One.

But now he finds Colne Cougars are the team to beat.

Michael, a Grade Two Basketball coach, finds that, with playing and coaching, the sport he loves takes up five nights of his week.

"I have a very understanding family."

For as well as playing for Burnley and the Magpies and coaching the juniors, Michael also holds coaching sessions on a voluntary basis in Nelson and West Craven.

One of Michael's main objectives for the future -- with the help of Lancashire Sport -- is to raise the profile of the game with youngsters.

With the Lancashire Youth Games in mind, Michael is looking to form a town team but not only as a one-off. "The idea is to get a Burnley town team to play teams from neighbouring towns. And from that to form an East Lancashire side and a full Lancashire side. That is something I find very exciting and something we need to work towards." Michael lists Larry Bird and Michael Jordan as his heroes on the court. "They were the players I always looked up to when I first started playing and I still look up to them now." But if he continues the hard work of coaching the kids then who knows -- the name of Michael Thompson could be the name Burnley youngsters will be looking up to.