McConochie, Lorna (1914 - 2001)

Lorna McConochie was a netballer and physical educator who made an important contribution to encouraging girls and women to participate in organised sport. She studied physical education at the University of Melbourne and went on to help establish the most prestigious physical education course of its type in Australia. The University of Melbourne course attracted interest from around the world and produced excellent teachers, lecturers and coaches in sport, recreation, dance and movement.

Throughout the period 1931-1940, Lorna McConochie was a member of either, or both, the Victorian and Australian netball teams. After the end of World War Two, she focused more on netball administration and her role on the Australian Council of Physical Education. In 1956, she managed the first women's touring team of England and in 1963, she coached the Australian team at the first netball World Tournament in England. In 1959 she was a delagate at the first conference of netball's International Federation, where the international rules were clarified. Throughout, she continued to advocate the importance of retaining and extending physical education in schools.

McConochie was nominated as a member of the Netball Victoria Team of the Century in 2000 and inducted into the Netball Hall of Fame in 2001. The Netball Victoria State League Umpire Award is named in her honour.

Related Corporate Bodies

• Netball Australia (1927 - )
  Lorna McConochie coached and managed the All Australia Netball team in 1956 and 1963 and had a longstanding association with Netball Australia in an official and unofficial capacity.

Related People

• Gill, Eunice Elizabeth Perrott (1918 - 1987)
  Lorna McConochie taught Eunice Gill at the University of Melbourne and was a colleague in the Department of Pysical Education. She also worked with her in netball administration

Online Resources

• Office of Women's Policy, Department for Victorian Communities, Victorian Honour Roll of Women 2004, State of Victoria, 2004, http://women.vic.gov.au/web12/rwpgslib.nsf/Graphic+Files/2004_Honour_roll/$file 2004_Honour_Roll.pdf. [ Details... ]