www.monumentaustralia.org.au

Evonne Goolagong CawleyPrint Page Print this page

The Big Racquet: 27-03-2014
The Big Racquet: 27-03-2014

Photographs supplied by Sandra Brown

The  world's largest tennis racquet (The Big Racquet) has been constructed and erected to commemorate tennis player Evonne Goolagong.  The 13.8 metre racquet is a replica of the wooden racquet she used in the 1970s and stands at the Evonne Goolagong Park. The Big Racquet was unveiled during centenary celebrations for the town of Barellan.

Evonne Goolagong Cawley, born in 1951, left Barellan as a teenager to further her tennis career, but she wed Roger Cawley there, her parents are buried there and it is the place she feels is home. Barellan was half a century old when its townsfolk pitched in to help make Evonne Goolagong Cawley a champion. They lent her tennis racquets, drove her to tournaments, donated clothes and raised money for coaching.

She was one of eight children born to Kenny and Linda Goolagong and together they constituted Barellan's only Aboriginal family.  Evonne Goolagong Cawley won Wimbledon in 1971 and 1980 and her prize money topped $US1 million, but her tennis career began with a racquet carved from a fruit crate by her dad and a tennis frock sewn from a sheet by her mum.
 

Location

Address:Yapunyah Street (Burley Griffin Way), Evonne Goolagong Park, Barellan, 2665
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -34.284924
Long: 146.574048
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Sport
Designer:Glenn Saddler, Peter Irvin & David Irvin

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Saturday 3rd October, 2009
Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au