Wendy Laidlaw stood in the centre of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Village on the University of Southern California campus and looked at everything around her. Her thoughts were on the Village, the security, the other athletes from all over the world, and trying to take it all in. Her thoughts then wandered back to her beloved home town of Wollongong and to her father David. “Well dad,” she thought to herself, “I am here. Now I know something of what you felt back in Helsinki and Melbourne. I always wanted to match you and become an Olympian and here I am.” (Wendy’s dad David won a Bronze Medal in rowing at the 1954 Helsinki Olympics, rowed at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, and won a Gold and a Bronze Medal at the 1954 Empire Games)
Wendy Anderson was born on February 19th, 1959 in Sydney, NSW. Her father David was an Australian Oarsman in the 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.
Wendy’s first sport was netball where she excelled and soon became an Illawarra representative. It was at one of her representative netball games that she was spotted by Enid Penrose the wife of Illawarra Men’s Basketball Coach Tom Penrose. Enid got Wendy involved in basketball. “Needless to say I was soon hooked on basketball,” recalls Wendy. She particularly loved the fact that in basketball a player could do everything and not be confined to a section of the court.
Eventually she had to make a decision between basketball and netball. “No contest” says Wendy “basketball won!”
Wendy cites Carolyn Hurley (under 14’s)and Jeanette Stutchbury (under 16’s) her early coaches as having a large influence on her basketball development.
Wendy enjoyed representing Illawarra and travelling to all parts of the State and playing in tournaments and her abilities were recognised when she was selected in the under 16 Girl’s State side in 1973. In that year Wendy played for NSW when they defeated Victoriain the final to win the Australian Championships. The next year, 1974, with Wendy as captain the NSW Under 16 girl’s team also won the Australian Championships when they defeated Queensland in the final.
Wendy captained NSW at the Under 18 Australian Women’s Championships in 1975 when they lost the final to Victoria in Canberra. In the following year (1976) Wendy captained the NSW Under 18 Women’s Team that finished third in the Australian Under 18 Women’s Championships.
Wendy was first chosen for the Australian Women’s Basketball Team as a nineteen year old for the tour to Europe and China in 1978. In 1981 she played for the Australian Team on a tour to China and in 1982 she played for Australia on a tour to Chinese Taipei and China.
Wendy had been representing Illawarra as a senior player whilst still a junior but in 1981 made the move to Sutherland so she would be playing in the Women’s National League (WNBL) as Illawarra did not have a team in the League. Trevor Cook a renowned coach was at Sutherland and guided her career from that time. Trevor had also coached Wendy in the NSW Junior Teams. Wendy was selected for the NSW Women’s Basketball Team and was a member of a number of NSW’s touring sides to the USA and Europe.
Wendy was chosen on the Australian Team for the 1983 World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The World Championships were a tremendous experience for Wendy as she was able to put her skills and talents against the best players in the world. Her personal highlight for the tournament was scoring 14 points against Yugoslavia. The Australian Team gained 11th place in the Championships.
This result disappointed the team, but it gave them the added drive to qualify for the 1984 Olympics as they knew they were not that far off being equal to many other teams with similar ambitions to play at the Olympic Games.
At 5 feet 9 inches in height Wendy was not a tall player but her strength and jumping ability made her a very effective rebounder. She had a powerful and accurate jump-shot and was a tough defender.Her jump-shot was from above her head (which was unusual for women at this time using the same size ball as used by the men) and it was difficult to defend.Very competitive with a strong will to win, Wendy was a much valuedmember of the National Team.Team-mate Kathy Foster describes Wendy. “My first room buddy....an awesome shooter but more importantly a great team player and friend.”
In 1984 Wendy was chosen to play for the Australia at the Beijing International Tournament. This Tournament was part of the team’s preparation for the 1984 Olympic Qualification Tournament.
The 1984 LA Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Cuba prior to the Olympic Games was the next hurdle for Wendy and the Australian Team. The team played well but unfortunately they lost two very close games and failed to qualify for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Wendy and the team returned home very disappointed. However, a subsequent boycott by some of the Soviet Bloc countries saw the Australian Women’s Team being granted the last spot in the 1984 LA Olympic Games Tournament. The players and Wendy were off to the Games and were therefore the first Australian Women’s Basketball Team to compete at an Olympic Games.
Wendy recalls. “The LA Games were a dream that had come true for me as my father was a dual Olympian and my aim was to emulate him by being an Olympian. The Opening Ceremony, the security, life in the Village and the basketball games will remain in my memory forever as will the fact that I was a member of the first Australian Women’s Olympic Basketball Team.”
The Australian Team played tough team basketball at the Games. They were however small compared to the giants on each of the other teams and despite their efforts and teamwork they could not notch a win....that is until their last game. In the last game against the powerful Yugoslavian team they were long-odds to win...but they did and secured the first win by an Australian Women’s Team at an Olympic competition. In doing so they secured 5th place in the tournament. Wendy played and scored in every game that the team played.
Wendy retired from representative basketball after the 1984 Olympic Games. She was 27 years of age. In her career she had played39 games for Australia and played at a World Championship and an Olympic Games.
She had already been coaching Illawarra girls and senior representative teams so it was no surprise when she continued to coach basketball. In 1985 she coached the NSW Under 20 Women’s Team at the Australian Championships and in 1986 was Assistant Coach on the Australian Junior Women’s Team tour to China.
She continued to coach the Illawarra “Kittyhawks” in the ABA until 1993 and was Women’s Coach and then Co-ordinator of the Illawarra Academy of Sport Basketball Program for many years.
From 2001 to 2011 she co-ordinated and coached a development program for Illawarra Basketball Association for seven year olds through to teenagers.
Wendy Laidlaw not only emulated her father by becoming an Olympian she also contributed immensely to her chosen sport. She set an example for the young girls of the Illawarra to follow in her footsteps and become an Olympian. She continues to strive for those young players today.