BELINDA CORDWELL – FORMER TENNIS CHAMPION
At our May meeting we had an inspirational talk from Belinda relating both to her career as a professional tennis player and the events in her life which led up to that position.
Belinda represented New Zealand at the 1988 Olympic Games and reached a world ranking of #17 in 1989, the year she reached the semifinals of the Australian Open. Since her retirement in 1992, owing to back and foot injuries, Belinda has not only worked as tennis columnist and television commentator for One Sport and Sky Sport but has also done volunteer work for Samaritans, Birthright and The Salvation Army. In 2007, with her husband and family, she moved from Wellington to a 10 ha Greytown lifestyle block.
We are very fortunate to now have Belinda as Chair of the Kuranui College Board and a very involved member of our community.
Belinda reminded us of the many life lessons learned when we have a dream from an early age which we follow through. In her family a bike was not allowed until she turned 10 which meant that her brothers all qualified and she was left with a whole year before it was her turn! Instead of putting her off this time was spent in working out ways to enjoy herself and learn things until she was allowed a bike. Belinda feels that at times such as this she learned invaluable life lessons about striving to succeed, not always getting what you want immediately and also earning the right to have or do things.
At the age of 16, in the seventh form, Belinda was invited to play at Junior Wimbledon. She then lived for two years in America where she really learned her craft. She lived in Dallas, Forth Worth, with a New Zealander and his wife and trained how to be a tennis player and to live in America. She sometimes travelled 20 hours to a tournament and stayed in budget accommodation. The professional circuit was not the life it would be today! She turned professional when she was 19 and ended up playing in Australia when she was 20, playing against Navratilova, World No. 1 in the world at the time.
Family support and involvement has always been important and her parents and brothers played a big part in attending and assisting with training during her professional tennis travels.
When tennis finally became an Olympic sport in 1988 in Seoul Belinda felt her childhood dream of taking part in the Olympics had come true even though, in her words, she didn’t play all that well! Belinda is a great believer in having a dream and working towards making that come true.
We also had a brief talk from Age Concern to remind everyone of the assistance available in many areas as people age, and particularly making sure that people stay involved in their community and take part in trips and activities to enable them to continue to live a full life.
Anyone who would like more information on our Rebus Club and our various interest groups are very welcome to contact Margaret Griffiths on 306-8102.
