Mrs Robinson has been a beloved member of the Netball WA community for much of her life and has been influential in an administrator, coach and athlete capacity.
Her netball career began in High school, playing the forerunner to netball, as it was then known “Women’s Basket Ball.” After discovering her passion for the game, she joined the newly formed South Belmont Netball Club.
“I joined when I was about 15 and haven’t stopped being involved in netball since then,” Mrs Robinson said.
Her impact on the Belmont netball community has been profound. In 1980 she was named a Life Member of the South Belmont Netball Club and further honoured with the naming of “Robinson Reserve” in Belmont.
Mrs Robinson had a very influential State Open career as a player, captain and coach. She began representing the State as a 20-year-old and her career spanned from 1947 to 1950 and then again in 1953 after a two-year break to give birth to her daughter.
She is also part of an elite small group of West Australian athletes to both play (captain 1951) and coach (1954) the Open team.
“I regarded captaining the team as an honour,” she said.
“We had quite a successful year when I coached, the team came third which was the best it had done up until that point.”
Mrs Robinson’s commitment didn’t finish after her playing days. She was also heavily committed in an administrative role. She held the secretary position for Netball WA between 1975 and 1976, when the role was purely voluntary. She then held the position again from 1981-1987 in a full-time capacity.
“There was a lot of business to be done, the courts had to be looked after. It was a big organisation with hundreds of teams that took a lot of management,” she said.
Netball WA awarded Mrs Robinson Life Membership in 1953, the fourth person to be bestowed the honour after Maude Matthews, Dorothy Hoskins and Audrey Fairchild.
To this day, Mrs Robinson continues to have an impact on the Netball community. In 2024, she donated her State blazer which was on display at History Lane as part of Netball WA’s Centenary Celebrations.
Congratulations Evelyn on both this achievement and your impact on the Netball WA community.
