Heather McKay

Career McKay was born in 1941 as Heather Blundell in Queanbeyan. She came from a family of eleven children. Her father was a baker and her mother a stay-at-home parent. It wasn't until she was eighteen years old that she encountered squash as a way to improve her fitness. Initially, she did this non-professionally and without formal coaching, until a friend suggested she compete in the New South Wales Country Championship. There, she won the junior and women's titles.

Her success at that championship was noticed by the president of the Australian Squash Association. On his recommendation, McKay participated in the 1960 New South Wales Championships in Sydney. She won the junior tournament but lost in the quarterfinals of the women's tournament to Yvonne West. After this tournament, she shifted her focus from tennis to squash, although she did not completely give up other sports. Her potential was also noticed by squash champion, and the patriarch of the Khan squash family of Pakistan, Hashim Khan, who told the press in Canberra, "this girl could be very good". Supported by sponsors, she then moved to Sydney to further her career.

In 1962, she lost to Fran Marshall at the Scottish Championship.

In 1985, she moved back to Australia. That year, she became an assistant coach for squash at the Australian Institute of Sport in Brisbane, with Geoff Hunt as head coach. Natalie Grinham, and Rachel Grinham.

Since the late 1990s, she has participated in senior tennis tournaments, both singles and doubles. In 2001, she won the World Senior Championships and the team event, the Alice Marble Cup. In 2016, her husband died, which prompted her to move back to Queanbeyan in 2018. 9–1, 9–0, 9–1

Sheffield, England Sue Cogswell 9–2, 9–1, 9–2

Wembley, England Marion Jackman 9–3, 9–1, 9–5

Wembley, England Sue Newman 9–2, 9–4, 9–2

Wembley, England Barbara Wall 9–3, 9–1, 9–2

Recognition 1967 – ABC Sportsman of the Year 1969 – Appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services in sporting and international spheres. 1979 – Appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the sport of squash. 1997 – USA Racquetball Hall of Fame 2000 – Australian Sports Medal 2001 – Victorian Honour Roll of Women 2018 – Appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to squash as an elite player and coach, as a pioneer on the professional circuit, and through support for young athletes".