Barb Mattson also took her prodigious talent to other sports – softball, canoeing and volleyball. Amazingly, she also rowed sculls for Australia.
A superb athlete with a strong physical presence, Barb Mattson naturally also took her prodigious talent to other sports – softball, canoeing and volleyball. Amazingly, she also rowed sculls for Australia.
As a formidable defensive midfielder, her athletic strength, drive and assertiveness especially in competition, meant that her peers naturally leaned toward her leadership.
She would captain her club team Brighton to State League premierships, the SA state team to national titles, and was appointed vice-captain and coach of the Australian team.
In addition to Barb Mattson’s physical skills and presence, she had an uncanny knowledge of the game and its strategies.
As a warmup to the 1981 tour of Australia by the USA, she coached the Australian team against Great Britain in three Tests. The high point of that year came when Mattson’s Aussies became the first Australian side to defeat the USA.
That match took place in Hobart as part of the USA’s tour of Australia – with tests in Perth, Melbourne, Hobart and two in Adelaide.
There was much jubilation in achieving this feat, the USA having a much larger base of players from which to choose plus a considerably deeper history in the game.
If playing, captaining and coaching at all levels wasn’t sufficient, she also made significant contributions to the administration of the sport:
In 1974, the Mattsson Trophy for Under 15 girls Lacrosse competition in SA was established and is presented annually.
She was made a Life Member of SAWLA in the early 1980s. Barb Mattson was posthumously awarded the ALA Award of Merit in 2013 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Women’s Lacrosse in Australia.
