{"id":146239,"date":"2016-05-26T00:02:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T14:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=146239"},"modified":"2020-10-14T13:56:05","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T03:56:05","slug":"evonne-shares-her-tennis-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2016\/05\/26\/evonne-shares-her-tennis-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Evonne Shares Her Tennis Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Phillip West, 10, from Wondai P-9 with Evonne Goolagong Cawley … Evonne is holding a replica of the small wooden bat that she used as a child to practice hitting a tennis ball against a wall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 26, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Evonne Goolagong Cawley MBE, AO is a firm believer that tennis can change lives … after all, it definitely changed hers.<\/p>\n

She went from a young Wiradjuri girl dreaming of success in the small NSW town of Barellan to victory on the centre court at Wimbledon and being named Australian Of The Year.<\/p>\n

Evonne and her husband of 41 years, Roger, were surrounded by children when they visited Murgon on Wednesday for a very special Indigenous Tennis Come & Try Day, the first held in the town.<\/p>\n

A total of 52 children from five schools – St Mary’s Catholic College in Kingaroy, Wondai P-9, St Joseph’s Primary School in Murgon, Murgon State High School and Moffatdale State School – took part in the day.<\/p>\n

Evonne told southburnett.com.au<\/strong> she wants to give other Indigenous children the same opportunities that she enjoyed as a young person, the helping hand which set her on the path to a tennis career.<\/p>\n

“My husband Roger put together the whole program,” Evonne said.<\/p>\n

“It is incentive-based. It’s all about keeping the kids in school.”<\/p>\n

The first step is the “Come & Try” day.<\/p>\n

From this, between five and 15 children are selected – “the kids who are really listening” – for further free coaching at their local tennis club.<\/p>\n

The couple has been working with Indigenous kids since 2005 but in 2012 established the not-for-profit Evonne Goolagong Foundation to expand the concept.<\/p>\n

“If they attend the coaching lessons, and stay at school, the Foundation will help them attend State tennis camps,” Evonne said.<\/p>\n

From there, the students have an opportunity to attend a national camp which is held at Monash University in Melbourne during the week of the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Students can also earn scholarships to assist them at high school or to attend university.<\/p>\n

“Fifty-three scholarships have already been given out and 15 students are going to uni this year,” Evonne said.<\/p>\n

Evonne recalled that the townspeople in Barallan in southern NSW had helped her when she was a young girl.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“They saw me hitting a ball against the wall each day,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Coaches saw how keen I was and asked the local townspeople to help me.”<\/p>\n

When she was still very young, she was given the opportunity of moving to Sydney for coaching and to play in junior tournaments.<\/p>\n

She attended Willoughby Girls High School where she was the only Aboriginal girl in the school.<\/p>\n

Evonne admitted that for a while she cried every night, missing her home, but she stayed on as she just loved playing tennis.<\/p>\n

Students that have gone through the program with Evonne and Roger now often join them at the Come & Try Days to lend a hand.<\/p>\n

“We are like a family really,” Evonne said. “It’s fantastic.”<\/p>\n

This is the first time the Evonne Goolagong Foundation had held a Come & Try Day in Murgon, but it won’t be the last.<\/p>\n

“We’ll definitely be coming back next year,” she said.<\/p>\n