Sharelle Jane McMahon (born 12 August 1977) is an Australian former

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player who captained the Australia national netball team. She played in the goal attack and goal shooter positions.

Domestic career

Born in

Bamawm, Victoria Bamawm is a locality in the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located in the Campaspe Shire local government area, north of the state capital, Melbourne. At the , Bawmawm and the surrounding area had a population of 527. Bamawm share ...

, McMahon captained the

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 wh ...

in the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

and played 11 seasons for the

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

(as a captain for four seasons) in the previous

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 ...

. She led the Vixens to the ANZ Championship title in 2009, defeating the

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pla ...

in the grand final. McMahon captained the Vixens from its inaugural season in 2008 until 2011, sharing the captaincy with

Bianca Chatfield Bianca Chatfield (born 2 April 1982) is a former Australia netball international. Between 2001 and 2014 she made 59 senior appearances for Australia. Chatfield was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 2007 World Netb ...

from 2009. McMahon was best and fairest for the Vixens in 2009 and 2010, having previously been voted best and fairest for Melbourne Phoenix four times between 2000 and 2007. On 31 March 2011, McMahon ruptured her Achilles tendon in an ANZ Championship game against

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in the ...

. Following surgery, she withdrew from the

2011 Netball World Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Si ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, and was considering her playing future. Australian coach

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 ...

described McMahon as "probably the most athletic player of natural talent" to have played the game. McMahon confirmed during the off season that she would be returning to the

in the 2012

. But after playing one pre season match McMahon announced that she was pregnant and withdrew from the Vixens team for the 2012 season. Her son Xavier was born on 30 August 2012 and her daughter Ruby was born on 27 November 2015. On 25 October 2012 it was announced that McMahon would return to the Melbourne Vixens for the 2013 season. McMahon officially retired at the end of the 2013 season. At the end of each season, the Melbourne Vixens' most valuable player is awarded the Sharelle McMahon Medal. In 2017 McMahon joined the match review panel of the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the league ...

football league in its inaugural year.

International career

McMahon's international career began when she was selected in the Australian Under 21 team in 1996 following her performances in the Victorian Under 21 team. In 1997, she made her début for the Australia national netball team against the

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. She was the youngest member of the Australian team which won the netball gold medal at 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 unpreceden ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

. In September 2009, McMahon made her 100th appearance for the national side, captaining Australia to a 36–33 win against New Zealand. McMahon captained the Australian team at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

in Delhi and was selected as the Australian

flagbearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...

for the opening ceremony. In 2010 McMahon won the Australia's Favourite Diamond award. Late in 2011, McMahon considered her 2012 future in the Australian Diamonds. ''I had some thoughts of how it would be nice to finish my career and it definitely didn't involve being carried off the court with a snapped Achilles,'' McMahon said. ''There's a lot that has to happen before I do make it back in the team,'' she said. ''They've won a world championship without me so I'm certainly not expecting to walk straight back in.'' In October 2016, she was inducted as an Athlete Member of the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

References

External links

2010 Australian Netball Diamonds profile: Sharelle McMahon
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, Sharelle Melbourne Phoenix players Melbourne Vixens players ANZ Championship players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Bendigo People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) 1977 births Living people Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Australia international netball players Netball players from Victoria (Australia) Australian netball commentators 1999 World Netball Championships players 2003 World Netball Championships players 2007 World Netball Championships players