Lifelong friends, the duo played for the same Campbelltown HS team, then club team Tango, then for South Australia, and then for the Australian team.
At goalkeeper and goal defence, Kay Partington and Monica Lahm created a ferocious, defensive and rebounding duo and helped spearhead the SA State team to a dominance of netball in Australia throughout the 1980s with five consecutive national championship victories.
Along with a rising young star, Michelle den Dekker, they created a formidable circle defence for South Australia throughout that period.
The two played together for club team Tango, for South Australia, and for the Australian team.
Consecutive numbers – Diamond #70 and Diamond #71 – they played in a combined 30 matches for Australia in the late 1970s and 80s.
Partington was part of the 1983 World Cup triumph in Singapore, while SA’s captain, Lahm, moved into part-time media work and became an important TV commentator of netball in SA and nationally.
Partington describes their enduring friendship and partnership this way: “My connection with Monica began on the asphalt courts of Campbelltown High School in the mid 1970’s and has continued through years of being competitors until we finally found ourselves in the same club team, the SA Netball Team and for one fantastic tour of England in the Australian Netball team.
“Our connection on the netball courts was undeniable. We always knew what each other was doing, we shared a common tenacity in the way we played, we respected each other and loved and respected our team mates as well as the game we played.
“We always got the best out of each other and the feedback was always honest and sometimes brutal, but our game was left on the court and the connection in our lives took over off it.”
Lahm added to that perspective: “There has never been judgement, competition nor jealousy between us – only pride in each other and unwavering support.
“We shared victories and losses. Building not only success as sportswomen, but a sisterhood grounded in trust, loyalty and love.”
