A hit with the kids

LIVING LEGEND: Evonne Goolagong Cawley at the Grafton High School MPC. Photo: Terry Deefholts

THE message Evonne Goolagong Cawley had for a group of students yesterday during her visit to Grafton was "Follow your dreams, and have fun doing it". The message came from her mothers' attitude to tennis and competition.

"When I would go off to a tournament, she would wave and say have a fun day and when I came home, she would ask me if I had fun.

"She would never ask me if I won," Evonne said.

"That is where I learnt to have fun while following my dreams."

The tennis great spoke to children involved in leadership programs, sports stars and indigenous students from across Grafton.

Evonne seemed to really connect with the students, and they with her - which was shown by a question and answer session that lasted for about half an hour.

Her husband, Roger Cawley, introduced Evonne, saying that he was only telling the crowd of his wife's achievements, because she never would.

"Evonne has won 92 professional titles, including four back-to-back Australian Open finals, two Wimbledon's and a French Open," he said.

During her speech, Evonne spoke about how she began to play tennis, and how much the people who lived in her hometown of Barellan helped her in her early days.

"My dad cut a handle out of an apple crate for my brothers and sisters to hit with.

"I was the third eldest of eight children, so when I got my hands on that racket, I never let it go," she said.

She then went on tell how she learnt to return tennis balls by hitting them against any surface she could find.

"I would hit them against walls, water tanks, almost anything I could find.

"I would count how many times I could return the ball without making a mistake," she said.

While it has been a long time since she needed to practise with that tiny wooden bat, Evonne still carries it around with her, to show kids that you really can build a dream from next to nothing.

When a small child asked Evonne if she had won any trophies, the smile that crept across her face was priceless.

Evonne also promised she would return to Grafton later in the year to run a coaching clinic for young indigenous people.