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 ...

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

and

1999 World Netball Championships The 1999 World Netball Championships (also known as the Vodafone World Netball Championships for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Christchu ...

, 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 language, 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 sev ...

. 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 As ...

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 th ...

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 Com ...

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: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, 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 Go ...

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 family. O'Donnell's paternal grandmother, Eileen O'Donnell (née

Rankin Rankin may refer to: Places Australia *Division of Rankin, an electoral district in the Australian Federal House of Representatives, in Queensland Canada *Rankin Inlet, Nunavut *Rankin Inlet Airport, Nunavut * Rankin River, Ontario * Rankin Locat ...

) 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,

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 ...

and Doug Rankin. All four were prominent players with

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern 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 ...

. 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.

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, they were both members of the

team that were grand finalists. In 1989, together with Nicole Richardson, 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 ...

and also featuring Roselee Jencke and Simone McKinnis. Melbourne City finished as champions after defeating

52–42 in the grand final. In 1993, alongside Kathryn Harby and Julie Nykiel, 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. 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

, 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 The Australian Netball Hall of Fame was established by Netball Australia in 2008. The inaugural inductees included Margaret Caldow, Anne Sargeant, Vicki Wilson and Joyce Brown. Athlete members The following Australian netball international ...

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

; Australia *

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 s ...

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 British Empire Game ...

**''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 s ...

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 ...

**''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