Presenting an award to Ash Barty was a highlight of 2022
What an honour to present Ash Barty with the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (SAHoF) Don Award at the MCG on 15 December 2022.
The award is presented annually to an athlete or team who has inspired the nation over the past 12 months. This is the 2nd time Our Ash has won the award.
I say “Our Ash” because she’s on her way to being in the realm of The Don and Our Dawn! No surname required.
Ash is a great athlete, a champion tennis player and is remarkably normal, humble, respectful and grateful.
I met Ash for the first time when she took a break from tennis and decided to have a crack at cricket in 2015. She was about 20 years old and had made the courageous decision to put the raquet down and take stock of what she wanted. Enter an opportunity to pursue other interests without the pressure and expectations that being a Junior Wimbledown Champion brings.
Her determination, work ethic and hand eye coordination were great assets to transition to a new sport and we wanted to help accelerate this transition. How could we do this?
They say teaching others is the best way to learn. In fact it was Benjamin Franklin who said:
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn” .
So we leant on this theory and asked Ash if she would like to be an Assistant Coach to Head Coach Julia Price with the CA XI U15 team who were competing in the National U15 Championships in Hobart. She said yes, and off she went with a group of 13-14 year old budding cricketers to support their development whilst deepening her knowledge and understanding of the sport at the same time.
Can you imagine what it would have been like for these girls to have Ash on tap for a week? I bet they look back now and pinch themselves.
Ash was a very good cricketer very quickly. She played 9 matches for the Brisbane Heat in WBBL 01 (2015-16) and featured in the first ever WBBL match, scoring 39 from just 27 balls. She scored a century and won a 1st Grade Premiership for her club team Western suburbs. There is no doubt in my mind that if she stayed on the cricket path she would have been in the green and gold within about 18-24 months.
There is something special about team sport and Ash enjoyed this aspect of cricket. She became an important cog in the Queensland and Brisbane Heat set ups. Positive role modelling and setting an example is critical in elite environments. Ash role modelled high performance behaviours, mindset, and attitude and brought a different perspective to her team mates and the staff. This adventure wasn’t about fame and fortune; it was sport at its essence - enjoyment, pursuit of improvement, team work and belonging.
The tennis bug bit again, and with her newly founded experiences and a fresh outlook, Ash returned to tennis and went on to win 3 Grand slam titles - the French Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
What an extraordinary adventure, by an extraordinary talent. Ash seems to be able to do things her way and her way was to go out on a high - lifting the Aus Open trophy with a smile, with gratitude, with humility and in doing so inspired the nation.
She is a worthy recipient of the 2022 SAHoF Don Award.
Congratulations Ash.
Written by Belinda Clark | December 2022