Shelley O'Donnell is a former Australia netball international. Between 1990 and 1999, O'Donnell made 84 senior appearances for Australia. She was a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and 1999 World Netball Championships, the

1993 World Games The 1993 World Games ( nl, 1993 Wereldspelen), the fourth World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in The Hague, Netherlands. Titles 155 titles were awarded in 23 sports (not including invitational sports — aikido, equestrian ...

and the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

. During the

Esso/Mobil Superleague The Esso Superleague, later known as the Mobil Superleague, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1985 and 1996. The league was Australia's first national netball league. It was organized by the All Australia Netball A ...

era, O'Donnell played for several teams, including the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

and

Contax Contax (stylised as CONTAX in the Kyocera era) began as a German camera model in the Zeiss Ikon line in 1932, and later became a brand name. The early cameras were among the finest in the world, typically featuring high quality Zeiss intercha ...

. Between 1997 and 2005, O'Donnell played for

Melbourne Kestrels Melbourne Kestrels were an Australian netball team that represented Netball Victoria in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. Between 1997 and 2007, together with Melbourne Phoenix, they were one of two teams to represent Netball Victoria in the Comm ...

in the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

league. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, she was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

Early life and family

Shelley O'Donnell is the daughter of Bev and Graeme O'Donnell. The O'Donnell family is from

Ringwood North, Victoria Ringwood North is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Manningham and Maroondah local government areas. Ringwood North recorded a population of 9,9 ...

. She is a member of a prominent

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

family. O'Donnell's paternal grandmother, Eileen O'Donnell (née Rankin) was the daughter of

Teddy Rankin Edwin Walter "Teddy" Rankin (11 March 1872 – 31 July 1944) was an Australian rules footballer, originally with Riversdale, who began playing with Geelong in the VFA in 1891, and later played in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family ...

and the sister of

Bert Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

Cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

and Doug Rankin. All four were prominent players with

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

. Her father and brother, Gary O'Donnell were also notable players. Her sister, Wendy O'Donnell, is also a netball player. In 2019 O'Donnell's daughter, Hannah Mundy, was selected to play for

Victorian Fury Victorian Fury are an netball in Australia, Australian netball team that represents Netball Victoria in the Australian Netball League. In 2008 they were both founder members and the inaugural champions of the league. They retained the title in 20 ...

Playing career

Esso/Mobil Superleague

During the

era, O'Donnell and her sister Wendy played together for several teams. In 1987, together with

Shelley Oates-Wilding Shelley Oates-Wilding (born 4 July 1965) is an Australian sprint canoeist and waterman who competed for Australia in Canoeing from 1989 to 2008 (over a decade). Competing in two Summer Olympics, she earned her best finish of eighth in the K-4 ...

, they were both members of the

team that were grand finalists. In 1989, together with

Nicole Richardson Nicole Richardson (born 26 June 1970 in Melbourne) is a softball player from Australia, who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She also represented Australia in netball, winning gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Richards ...

, they played for Melbourne/Doncaster Keas. In 1990 they played for Melbourne City, a composite team coached by

Norma Plummer Norma Margaret Plummer AM (born 24 November 1944) is a former Australian national player who also served as netball coach for both Australia and South Africa. She was coach of Australia from 2003 to 2011, ending her coaching career with the D ...

and also featuring

Roselee Jencke Roselee Jencke is a former Australia netball international and netball coach. As a player, Jencke was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medal at the 1991 World Netball Championships and the silver medals at the 1985 World Ga ...

and

Simone McKinnis Simone McKinnis is a former Australia netball international and the current head coach of Melbourne Vixens in Suncorp Super Netball. As a player she was a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the 1991 and 1995 World Netball C ...

. Melbourne City finished as champions after defeating

52–42 in the grand final. In 1993, alongside

Kathryn Harby Kathryn Harby-Williams (born 16 July 1969) is an Australian netball player and television presenter. She captained the Australian netball team. Harby-Williams currently works with Radio Sport New Zealand and is a Sky TV commentator for Sky S ...

and

Julie Nykiel Julie Dawn Nykiel (born 13 December 1958) is a former Australian women's basketball player. Biography Basketball Nykiel played for the national team between 1979 and 1990, competing at two Olympic Games; 1984 and 1988.

, she played for Contax as an "import player". In 1994 she captained Melbourne Keas while Nicole Richardson served as vice-captain. In 1996 she captained the AIS team after returning as an "import player".

Melbourne Kestrels

Between 1997 and 2005, O'Donnell played for

in the

league. She was the inaugural Kestrels captain and continued in the role until 2000. She missed the 2001 and 2002 seasons after giving birth to her daughter, Hannah. She returned in 2003, but then missed the 2004 season after giving birth to her son, Jasper. She then made a second comeback in 2005 and played her final senior netball season.

Australia

Between 1990 and 1999, O'Donnell made 84 senior appearances for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. O'Donnell previously represented Australia at under-21 level, including at the 1988 World Youth Netball Championships, when her teammates included her sister, Wendy. She made her senior debut on 21 November 1990. She was subsequently a member of the Australia teams that won gold medals at the

and 1999 World Netball Championships, the

and the

. O'Donnell was vice-captain of the 1999 World Netball Championship squad and announced her retirement from international netball following their title win. In

O'Donnell, along with the rest of the gold medal-winning 1991 World Netball Championship squad, were awarded the

. In 2010, O'Donnell was inducted into the Australian Netball Hall of Fame.

Coach and commentator

Since retiring as a netball player, O'Donnell has remained involved in the game, both as a commentator with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and as a coach. In 2017 and 2018 she coached the

Eastern Football Netball League The Eastern Football Netball League (known previously as the Eastern Districts Football League and later the Eastern Football League) is an Australian rules football league, based in the eastern suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne. History The E ...

inter-league team.

Honours

;

World Netball Championships The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by the World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and t ...

**''Winners'':

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

**''Winners'':

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

**''Winners'':

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

;Melbourne City * Esso Super League **''Winners'': 1990 ;

* Esso Super League **''Runners up'': 1987

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Shelley 1967 births Living people Australian netball players Australia international netball players Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Netball players at the 1993 World Games Netball players from Victoria (state) Australian Institute of Sport netball players Contax Netball Club players Melbourne Kestrels players Esso/Mobil Superleague players Australian netball coaches Australian netball commentators Rankin family of Geelong Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 1991 World Netball Championships players 1995 World Netball Championships players 1999 World Netball Championships players People from Ringwood, Victoria Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games