Pittwater Life April 2017 Issue

Straight
Shooter
Life Stories
With the whistle blowing to start
the 2017 netball season this
month, we talk to one of the
game’s greats – Anne Sargeant.
Story by Rosamund Burton
Tall and immaculately presented, netball legend
Anne Sargeant opens the front door of her home on
Barrenjoey Road at Palm Beach. Her two small dogs,
Loki and Moku, named after the great Hawaiian surfer, Duke
Kahanamoku, yap around her feet with excitement as she
strides down the hallway and out to the verandah. Here we
sit in an oasis of greenery broken only by glimpses of the
silvery surface of Pittwater, until a heavy downpour forces us
indoors.
It’s 29 years since Anne Sargeant retired from playing
netball. She played for Australia from 1978 to 1988, and
during her six-year captaincy worked tirelessly to promote
the game. Her contribution to one of Australia’s leading
participation sports has not diminished.
Anne is a commentator for the new national league Suncorp
Super Netball, two live matches of which are broadcast live
every Saturday night on Channel Nine.
“We want Suncorp Super Netball to not only appeal to the
stalwart netball fans, but also to attract other people to the
athleticism and fierce beauty of this sport,” she explains.
For netball to be showcased live on primetime television
is ground-breaking for women’s sport, and her 50-year
involvement in the game has played no small part in this.
The previous weekend she was commentating on two games,
so was away all Saturday and Sunday. She is also a selector for
the Australian team. “So when I came home I re-watched all four
games that were played over the weekend with my selector-head
working, and then I watched the games I commentated on again
to see what I could hone, and what I could do better.”
I am struck by her unwavering desire to do and be her
very best, as well as her dedication to the game. She started
playing with Forestville Netball Club as an eight-year old,
and recalls swinging the tassel on her uniform, and being
so proud of her black Dunlop Volleys. She made the Manly
Warringah rep team as a 10-year old. “Our rep coach instilled
in us an absolute love of the game, and also respect for our
opponents, and to do our best, learn as we go and have fun.”
Having played for Manly for many years, she admits, despite
her respect and support for other districts, that she is “a
Manly girl through and through”.
Anne was tracked into a State Development Team. But it
was soon after she got into the Under-18s NSW Team that her
dream run came to an abrupt halt. She was put out of the
team after a couple of training sessions because her Umpiring
Theory Badge, which all State players had to have, was found
to be a month out of date, although she had checked it was
current when she trialled for the team. Anne was shattered.
However, a couple of years later she not only made a NSW
Open Team, but also the Australian Team.
She met Warwick Sargeant at the University of Sydney,
where they were both doing a Bachelor of Education. Anne
was 22 when they married and six months later they bought
what she describes as ‘a shoebox on legs’ overlooking
Newport’s Salt Pan Cove.
“I was working as a full-time teacher and competing, so
doing overseas tours representing Australia and taking leave
without pay.”
Then Warwick realised that he wanted to do physiotherapy,
28 APRIL 2017
Celebrating 25 Years