Jennifer Hazel Whittle was born September 5th, 1973 in Gold Coast, Queensland. She started to play basketball when she was nine years of age when some friends introduced her to the game. She was very much influenced in her early playing by Harold Peacock who was the Junior Coach at the UCFC club on the Gold Coast. Harold was a very experienced coach and he saw potential in the tall rangy young Jenny.
“He put a lot of time and effort into me and was the first person to make me realise that I could go somewhere in basketball,” recalls Jenny.
There was a small hiatus for a year or so when Jenny did not play basketball, but Coach Peacock ignited her interest again and soon Jenny was playing for Queensland Junior Teams.
Jenny represented Queensland at the Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20 levels.
A huge change came into Jenny’s life when she was offered a basketball scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1989. She was only fifteen years of age.
“The AIS was a lifesaver for me. I went in as a very shy fifteen years old and was forced to come out of my shell. The first year was really tough for me as I felt so far behind the other girls in my skills,” say Jenny.
She was at this time very tall for her age at well over 190cms and co-ordination, foot speed and agility were to be a challenge for the young Jenny. “I soon found my confidence through the hard work of Jenny Cheesman and Phil Brown. It was one of the best experiences of my life and it set me up for a successful basketball career as well as gaining me some life-long friends,” say Jenny.
At the AIS Jenny played in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) against the best players in the nation and travelled overseas with the AIS Team. These experiences were a huge influence on her development as a player.
The AIS was Jenny’s home until the end of 1991 when she left Canberra and joined the WNBL Club Brisbane Blazers.
Over the next seventeen years Jenny was to forge and outstanding career in the WNBL. She played with the Blazers for six years before leaving at the end of 1997 to join another WNBL Club the Perth Breakers. She played with Perth for two years (1998 and 1999) before moving to Melbourne to play WNBL for the Bulleen Boomers for the 1999/2000 season. She did not play WNBL again until the 2004 season. She sat out from all basketball in 2003. Then Sydney 2000 Olympic Coach Tom Maher convinced her to come to Canberra and play for the Canberra Capitals in the WNBL. It was a good decision as Jenny won her first WNBL title with the Capitals in the 2005/06 season.
In the 2007/08 season Jenny played for the Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL and won another WNBL title. Jenny retired after that season with Adelaide. She had a distinguished career in the WNBL winning two Championships and being named to the WNBL All Star Team three times.
Jenny’s international career with Australia commenced when she was selected for the Australian Women’s Youth Team to tour the USA for twelve games in 1990.
In 1991 she was selected to the Australian National Team for a twelve match tour of the USA. That same year Jenny played with the Australian Youth Team in the Olympic Youth Rally.
In 1992 Jenny played with the Australian Youth Team in the Oceania Youth World Championships Qualification Tournament which they won. She also played for the Australian National Women’s Team in a six match series in Australia against China. Jenny played threegames against the South West All Stars with the Youth Team before the Youth Team undertook a twelve match tour of Europe at the end of the year.
The Australian Youth Team (Gems) was building for the 1993 World Championships and in 1993 Jenny played with the Youth Team against Japan B, the Korean Junior Team,the US Youth Team, the Ukraine National Team, and in the Malaysian Cup.
The 1993 Women’s World Youth Championships were a defining moment in Australian basketball history and in Jenny’s career. The Youth Team won the first Gold Medal by Australia at a World or Olympic Championships.
Jenny recalls, “It was an amazing experience. To win Gold was unbelievable and to do it with many of my team-mates from the AIS was very special.”
After the triumph of winning Gold, Jenny was chosen in 1993 to play for the Australian National Team on a nine match tour of China.
In 1994 Jenny played with the National Team (now called the Opals) against Japanese, Russian and Bulgarian touring teams and then in the PreOZ94 Games.
Australia hosted the 1994 World Women’s Championships and Jenny and the Opals were aiming for Australia’s first medal at a Women’s World or Olympic Championship. Despite the Opals playing marvellously well the medal eluded them and they finished a tremendous 4th.
Jenny rounded out the year with a six match series for the Opals against China.
In 1995 Jenny played for the Opals in a series against Korea, in the Oceania1996 Olympic Qualification Tournament, in games against China and on a tour to Europe. She was selected on the Opals Team for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. After the World Basketball Challenge and two Pre-Olympic Tournaments (in Canada and the USA) the Opals arrived in Atlanta for the Games.
“I was blown away,” recalls Jenny. “To be part of an Australian Team is such a privilege. Then to be selected for the Olympics and to be part of the team at the Olympics is amazing. We were lucky enough to be able to participate in the Opening Ceremony. It was the biggest crowd I’d ever seen. You just run on adrenalin the whole two weeks.”
She adds, “The security did worry me and at times I felt like a sitting duck. When I heard about the bombing near the Olympic Village it just gave me a sickening feeling.”
The Opals played brilliantly and after a dramatic win in overtime over Russia in the Quarter Finals to get to the Semi-Finals they won the Bronze Medal when they defeated the Ukraine in the Bronze Medal Game. The Opals had finally broken through for that elusive first Olympic medal. Jenny and the Opals had made history.
In 1997 Jenny played with the Opals against Japan, Russia, in the Oceania 1998 World Championships Qualification Tournament which the Opals won and in the USQ Invitation Tournament (USA) and the Golden Cup in Brazil.
Jenny was selected on the Opals Team for the 1998 World Championships in Germany. In 1998 in preparation for the 1998 World Championships the Opals played in the Japan Women’s Basketball Festival, the Grand Prix of Slovakia and the Portugal Tournament.
The Opals confirmed their elite status in world basketball when they played brilliantly to win the Bronze Medal at the 1998 World Championships.
After the World Championships, Jenny played in 1998 for the Opals against the USA and China. In 1999she played for the Opals against Cuba, in the US Olympic Cup, and in the USA Basketball Invitational.
Jenny states, “Even when I was playing in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics I was continually thinking about making the Australian Team for Sydney 2000 and wondering what it would be like to play in an Olympics in Australia.”
2000 was a very busy year for Jenny and the Opals. Jenny was chosen on the Opals team for the Sydney Games. The team started with games against Russia (Maher Cup),in the Olympic Test Event, and then against Canada, France and Poland. The Opals followed these games with a short tour to Europe (France and Poland) before playing back home against New Zealand, then in the C7 Challenge. They finished their Olympic preparation with gamesagainst the USA and Brazil.
The Opals played magnificently in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and did not lose a game until the Final. Jenny had highlight games and her combination with the rising super star Lauren Jackson was too much for most teams. The Opals lost the final to the USA but had done themselves and their country proud by winning the Silver Medal.
“The Sydney 2000 Olympics were my biggest thrill and the highlight in my basketball career,” recalls Jenny. “It was the best two weeks of my life!”
Jenny Whittle was a tall player with skills. She was an excellent rebounder and shot blocker. Her intimidation on defence around the basket changed the momentum of many games in favour of the Opals. She possessed a rare “sky-hook” for women’s basketball and was a very effective three-point shooter. Her game was at its peak!
Jenny was still only 27 so there was plenty of basketball left if she wanted it. She did!
In 2001 she toured with the Opals to Europe and played in the Oceania World Championship Qualification Tournament which the Opals won. In 2002 Jenny played with the Opals against Japan, China and Lithuania when they toured to Australia. She was selected on the Opals Team for the 2002 World Championships. After the “Opals World Challenge” Jenny and the Opals played in the World Championships in China and won the Bronze Medal.
Jenny did not play basketball for the next eighteen months and considered not playing again. Fortunately for Australian basketball and the Opals she returned to the WNBL and the Opals in 2005 when she played with the Opals to win the Oceania World Championship Qualification Tournament.
In 2006 Jenny played for the Opals when they won the Gold Medal in the Commonwealth Games which were held in Melbourne.
Jenny also played for the Opals in 2006 in the “Opals World Challenge”, in a series against China in China and in the Pre-World Championship Tournaments in Czechoslovakia and the USA.
The 2006 Women’s World Basketball Championships will always be remembered as the time that Australian basketball and particularly the Opals made the ultimate step to glory when they won the Gold Medal at the World Basketball Championships in Brazil. Jenny, at this stage, was a permanent Starting Five player on the team and her combination with Kristi Harrower, Penny Taylor and Lauren Jackson was significant in the Opals campaign to win the Gold Medal.
Jenny retired from international basketball after the 2006 World Championships.
Jenny Whittle played over 330 games for Australia in a career over sixteen years. She won Silver and Bronze Medals at Olympic Games and Gold at Women’s and Youth World Championships. She also won two Bronze Medals at World Championships.
Jenny Whittle had an outstanding career for Australia and her achievements will rank her as one of our best centres in the Opals history. She lives on the Gold Coast and does basketball coaching for children with special needs.