Cannons Creek family Bernadette Randall, Mariah Marshall and Patricia Randall have all excelled in their chosen sports. 21625 By Marc McGowan
CANNONS Creek schoolgirl Mariah Marshall is well-known for her prowess on the football field.
Whether Mariah, 16, is rucking at Youth Girls level for Hallam or rebounding the ball from half-back for Victoria, she is recognised as one of the state’s top talents.
Mariah also excelled for Nunawading in swimming and the Dandenong Rangers in basketball.
But not many people are aware of the sporting pedigree in her family.
Mariah’s mother Bernadette Randall, 42, was a champion tennis player, reaching the world number one ranking in singles and doubles at junior level in 1983.
Bernadette, who is now a WorkCover investigator, went to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1981 and was selected to play for her country at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984.
Tennis was a demonstration sport that year, but an arm injury cruelly took that experience from her – the same ailment that forced her prematurely from the tennis circuit.
The injury still causes Bernadette, who breeds English bull terriers, grief and can drastically affect her day-to-day activities.
“I was lifting weights a fair bit at the AIS and damaged the ulnar nerve in my (right) arm,” she said.
“I didn’t get to play at the Olympics because they thought I’d lose use of my arm permanently.
“But tennis really shouldn’t be an Olympic sport.”
The family’s sporting success does not stop there.
Patricia Randall (nee Parmenter), Mariah’s grandmother and Bernadette’s mother, was also an elite tennis and squash competitor.
Patricia, 71, combined with Betty Orton to win the Australian Open girls’ doubles title in 1955.
“I’m 180 centimetres and was one of the tallest on the circuit back then and it was only played in Australia at that time,” the ladies’ president at Amstel Golf Club said.
“We’ve all got good health and you can attribute that to sport.”
Mariah, a member of the AFL Victoria Youth Girls Academy, does not feel pressured to follow in their footsteps.
The three-time Footy Pak Youth Girls best-and-fairest winner also tried tennis, but knew football was her passion.
“I just love everything about it,” she said.
“The standard (of girls’ football) is getting higher every year and it’s great to see 14-year-old girls being able to play with 18-year-olds, and going out and having fun.”
Mariah won her second Youth Girls premiership two weekends ago for Hallam after enjoying grand final success with Pearcedale-Baxter last year.
“This year was the better one because the team was a lot closer and I knew the girls before I started playing,” the Year 11 Elizabeth Murdoch student said.
“It was also good to win for the coach (Shane Bloxidge), who had coached them for four years.”
Mariah, an aspiring sports journalist, began another tilt at the state side on Monday and expects to play for Melbourne University in the Victorian Women’s Football League next season.
But did she ever dream of making the Olympics when she was swimming or playing basketball?
“It was a goal I had, but a very far goal. It was in the back of my mind,” Mariah said.
“I tore my meniscus (in my left knee) playing basketball and it got too much for me training for basketball and football.
“I got bored of swimming and just looking at the black line all the time.”
