Holder received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1985. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (1985, 1986).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Mark Holder made his NBL debut with the West Sydney Westars at 19 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

In 1987, Holder averaged 1.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 0.4 assists as the Westars finished with a record of 8-18 during the regular season.

Eastside Melbourne Spectres
1991
After making the playoffs for the first time in three years, coach Brian Goorjian was able to bring back almost the entire squad for another shot at the championship, the team’s only key loss being bruising forward Shane Froling, who was replaced with Scott Ninnis.

Behind Eastside’s formidable frontcourt, led by Bruce Bolden (27.2 points and 10.4 rebounds), Kent Lockhart (18.6 points and 5.7 rebounds) and Dean Uthoff (16.8 points and 13.6 rebounds) the Spectres finished the season with a 17-9 record. In a limited role Holder also contributed 1.7 points, 0.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists as Eastside finished in second place, earning them a first-round bye in the playoffs. Eastside would then eliminate North Melbourne, 2–0 in the semifinals before facing off against the Perth Wildcats, who had finished the season in first place (22-4) and eliminated the Adelaide 36ers in their semi-final matchup. The Grand Final series would see Perth come away victorious with a 109-83 win in game one before the Spectres evened things up with a 86-81 win in game two. Behind the stellar play from Perth imports Ricky Grace and Pete Hanson, who would be awarded the Grand Final MVP, Perth defeated Eastside in the deciding game, 90-80.

Mark Holder played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the West Sydney Westars and the Eastside Melbourne Spectres. He averaged 1.8 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 19 NBL games.