28 April 2023

Your Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia, Mr Rod Bunten, the Honourable Katrine Hildyard, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, The Honourable Catherine Hutchesson, Member for Waite, the Honourable Michelle Lensink, Shadow Minister for Women, the Honourable Michael Wright, President, Sport SA, Margaret Ralston AM, Bruce McAvaney OAM, Kylie Taylor Chief Executive, Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing and Leah Cassidy Chief Executive, Office of Sport SA and all guests here this evening.

I am delighted and honoured to have been approached to have the first of such a project in Australia named after me.

All women will have the opportunity to be a part of this exciting development, no matter their background or culture and there will be a breadth of opportunities available from grassroots to elite levels.

Firstly, I thought I might give you a snap-shot of the past to demonstrate just how far sports have developed in my lifetime alone. In fact, let’s go back to 1949 when I was just 17 years old. Australia was coming out of the depression and the Second World War. Funds were scarce and my first pair of second-hand mens running shoes were too big for me and I had to stuff them with newspaper.

I worked by day as a typist and was unable to accept any payment for my athletic career, as to do so would forfeit my right to compete in the Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

I trained on the potholed Lithgow Oval which I shared with the rugby players.

The people of Lithgow rallied behind me and raised funds for a small cinder track to be laid so that I could have a sense of what tracks overseas might be like. Unfortunately, there was no lighting and I trained by the headlights of a car during the bone chilling misty winter nights.

When I went to Sydney for athletic meets, I caught the train, then had to pay to get into the stadium and then pay to compete.

I certainly did not have on hand physiotherapists, every type of assistance technology wise, masseurs, mentors, sports scientists, sports psychologists, sports doctors, public relations teams, sports institutes, sponsors, administrative help or world class facilities.

It is hard to imagine the somewhat primitive nature of my regime. But what I did have was a coach, work colleagues, family, friends and the people of Lithgow who fulfilled those roles.

I will now share a quote from my coach, Jim Monaghan, in 1949 just after I defeated the reigning world champion runner, Fanny Blankers Koen, who had been invited to participate in a demonstration race in Sydney: “After Marj beat the world reigning champion at aged 17, she became famous overnight and had almost a week of being interviewed, appearing on the radio and posing for pictures. It was a real strain for a youngster and she showed the effect of it.”

“However, once she got to the mark for the second race, the next week, she became completely composed and had another win. It proved that there was nothing wrong with her temperament. Actually, she is inclined to get a bit edgy before a big race but is as right as a bank once she gets out onto the ground.”

I am not sure that that is a quote we would hear very often these days about banks!

The Manager at my day job, Jack Crosby, said “Marjorie is still inclined to be shy with strangers, but her athletic trips are helping to develop her confidence.”

Oh, imagine having a sports academy for women back then!

Now on to 1952, where competitors were not fully funded to attend the Helsinki Olympics. Additionally, they forfeited their day job salaries for the six weeks they were away. To help raise money for the Australian Women’s Relay Team, I rattled the tins and presented sashes to winning greyhound dogs in Sydney every Wednesday evening.

When the team arrived in London for pre-games training, the running track was different from anything we had experienced prior. The Australian athletes subsequently suffered what was called “transitioning shin soreness”. This delayed our progression to top racing condition and left us unable to walk for three days. We didn’t have any masseurs or the like and had to battle through our pain caused by the long running spikes that could not be adjusted like the modern spikes of today.

In the end, at age 22, with an athletic career not being able to provide me with a living, my sporting career came to a halt.

Thankfully the sportswomen of today and tomorrow are unlikely to face such challenges but will no doubt face others along their own journeys. The building of resilience in our sports women will be a vital component to any future successes and I am confident that the new Academy will provide that foundation and support in spades!

During my time as Governor, I was fortunate to travel the length and breadth of this wonderful State and meet girls and women who were passionate about their sports, realised the health benefits of maintaining regular exercise and valued the community connections that came with being part of a sporting club or organisation. The Academy will collaborate with those organisations with the view to increasing opportunities and participation.

I am proud that this Academy will be established so that South Australian girls can aspire to be involved in sporting programs in some way and that it will no doubt provide them with the inspiration, encouragement, support and guidance to be able to fulfill their ambitions. Not every girl aspires to be an athlete but opportunities will be there for career paths such as coaching, board members, mentors and media professionals to name just a few. Some hopefully will go on to world class success in their chosen field. Women will have the opportunity to follow a unique path based on their own interests and talents and the gender equity programs will benefit all South Australians.

I wish to share the Olympic Creed (first read by Bishop Talbot at a service for Olympic champions during the 1908 Olympic games) as this is what I personally have carried with me not only in sport but in everyday life too:

“The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.” I hope that you find this creed as inspiring as I do.

South Australian sport has an exciting future and thank you to everyone from Sport SA who has worked so hard to bring this launch to fruition tonight and to the State Government who have committed funds.

I would like to give my very best wishes to the Academy that bears my name. I am truly honoured. Thank you.

I would like to finish with:

The future.

The next generation of South Australian girls.

What a wonderful legacy for them.

I have three South Australian great-granddaughters who have traveled from Kangaroo Island to be here tonight.

Georgia, Charlotte and Sage.

 GEORGIA:

“We are the future of South Australian women in sport. Please come along to the Academy in about 10 year’s time to catch us training. We hope to see you then!”