Netball NSW is proud to announce that celebrated former State Team coach the late Carole Skyes is to be elevated to Legend status in the Netball NSW Hall of Fame.
Netball NSW Chair Sallianne Faulkner said Sykes’ elevation to Legend was a fitting tribute.
“Though she may no longer be with us, Carole’s legacy is one of the finest in our game and it lives on proudly today,” she said.
“To see the NSW Swifts and GIANTS do battle at a sold-out Ken Rosewall Arena for a trophy that bears her name is a testament to the respect Carole holds in NSW netball.”
Legend status is the highest honour Netball NSW can bestow on an individual and Sykes will be elevated at the organisation’s State Dinner at the Bankstown Sports Club on Saturday 1 November.
In the process the Randwick great, who was inducted into the Netball NSW Hall of Fame in 2008, will become just the seventh Legend in the over 90-year history of the organisation.
She will join a special club that also includes Anne Sargeant OAM, Margaret Corbett OAM, Anne Clark BEM, Maureen Boyle OAM, Neita Matthews OAM and Liz Ellis AO.
A coach who nurtured some of the greatest ever athletes NSW netball has produced, Sykes started out a player herself.
“A generation of NSW’s finest players shone at national and international level thanks to her coaching and to see her elevated to Legend status is a very proud moment for her family and the athletes she turned into champions,” Faulkner said.
She first represented NSW in 1959 as a member of the NSW Night team before earning selection in the NSW Opens Team in 1962, going on to spend nine years in the side including two as captain. She was also Vice Captain of Netball NSW Hall of Fame 1969 Singapore Touring Team.
Her performances for NSW then earned her selection for the 1970 Australian squad.
After retiring from playing in 1979, Sykes turned her attention to coaching, leading the NSW 17U team to three National Championship victories from four attempts.
From 1991 to 1996 she coached in the ESSO Super League and MOBIL League competitions, winning with Sydney Pulsars (1991) and with Sydney Electricity (1995).
Sykes also coached in the NSW Indigenous State of Origin Series and was a national selector for Opens, 17s and 19s age groups as well as a selector for the 2008 Premiership-winning NSW Swifts.
Awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for her services to the administration of netball, today the NSW Swifts and GIANTS Netball contest the Carole Sykes Memorial Trophy every time they play in a competitive regular-season or Finals game in Suncorp Super Netball.
“The Netball NSW State Dinner is where we celebrate the champions of our game and Carole is one of them.
“We are very much looking forward to her Hall of Fame elevation and congratulate her family in advance.”
