JIMMIE Guymon has announced his retirement as head coach of the Solent Stars' youth basketball programme.

The popular American will be sorely missed having been an integral part of the Solent success story since the creation of the senior men's squad in 1980/81.

Widely recognised as one of the best players ever to grace Stars' home Fleming Park court, Guymon - nicknamed 'Golden Arm' - had been the talk of English basketball during the 1970s for his scoring exploits with former national champions Crystal Palace and was voted Player of the Year in 1973/74.

When the Palace door closed, he was persuaded to return to England and joined a Solent team that won the Division 2 title in their first season.

Unfortunately a broken hip cut short his playing career at the start of 1982/83, but Guymon was soon snapped up as a coach, notably with Thames Valley Tigers.

He helped out Solent during one of their seasons in the doldrums in the mid-90s before turning his attention to the development of young players in the area.

Together he and wife, Bev, have become a driving force, both locally and nationally, on the youth basketball scene and the couple's talented son, Matthew, now plays internationally for England's under-16s.

Solent Stars owner Bob Paulley was the man who asked Guymon to set up the 'Rising Stars' youth development programme.

He recalled: "There had been no youth coaching of this quality anywhere in the area - and probably not in the country - before and when we advertised trials to extend the programme to other age-groups we were inundated with prospective players.

"Jimmie's reputation also ensured the best local coaches wanted to work with him. Within a couple of seasons we were the leading local club in terms of size and results and, by 1999/2000, we were one of the leading youth programmes nationally.

"Our teams have consistently made final fours and cup finals and we've added two girls' National League teams in recent years.

"Jimmie spent endless hours every week coaching. He was often brutally hard on the players, uncompromising in his standards and never satisfied with any win where Solent scored less than 100 points and conceded over 50.

"Parents, perhaps conditioned by the English suspicion of an uncompromising will to win in sport, sometimes found it hard to watch him at work, but the players thrived on it."

Guymon's legacy is a team of quality coaches, seasoned administrators and seven well-developed squads of players from 12-18 years old.

The Rising Stars continue with trials for their 2003/4 squads at Millbrook Community School, starting next month. Entry is £2 per player.

Schedule: Saturday, June 28: under-13 boys and girls (1pm), under-14 boys (2pm), under-15 boys (3pm), under-16 boys (4pm); Saturday, July 5: under-14 girls (1pm), under-16 girls and under-18 women (2pm), under-18 men (3pm), under-20 men (4pm). Players must meet the age limits shown on August 31, except the under-20 men for whom the date is December 31.

For further information contact Bev Guymon on 023 8067 6850.