STAR DUO LAUNCH ORIGIN AND BEACH TOUCH
At Friday’s Beach Touch and Maroons Origin Campaign Launch I cornered 3 Time Olympian, Gold Medallist, and Beach Volleyball legend Natalie Cook and 3-time World Cup Winner, Qld and Australian Women’s Open Captain, and Touch superstar Sharyn Williams and fired 10 curly questions in the direction of the dynamic duo. I then put them through the extra time drop off round of questions and learnt some things you may or may not know about our champions. Enjoy the read.
Nat had a run in the exhibition game of Beach Touch and then Billy had a go at some Beach Volleyball skills – so that seemed like a good place to start…
1. Have you ever played each other’s sport before and are you any good?
Nat- Never organised – at the park with Dad and my brother – and I’m an armchair expert when it comes to Origin footy – but I enjoyed the Beach Touch today – it’s fast – can’t believe you do that on the grass for 20 minutes at a time- pretty impressive!
Billy- Same as Nat, never organised – socially and at a BBQ with a few drinks in me and I can safely say, Nat, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I can’t believe you run on the sand all day – how do you cope with that?
Nat – lots of massages…
2. Complete the sentence – “The best thing about my sport is….”
Billy – The social interaction, the friends you make from playing the game, from working together – sharing stuff together.
Nat – Travelling the world and making a living from the sport I love to play.
3. Complete the sentence – “The worst thing about my sport is….”
Nat- The sand gets everywhere and the sunscreen you need to put on all the time.
Billy- I would have thought those outfits you play in would have been up there (Billy laughs)
Nat- Hey, I’ve seen those swimming tog things you get around in – don’t you laugh!
Billy – The worst thing? – Lack of sponsorship.
4. What is your favourite ice cream?
Billy – Double Choc Swirl – is that too specific?
Nat – No way, mine is Peter’s Maxi Bon.
5. Three Words that sum you up?
Billy – Motivated, passionate, and… come back to me Karls
Karls – A quick answer’s a good answer Bill..
Billy – I’m pretty calm, easy, you know…
Nat – easy, but not cheap…(Nat laughs)
Billy – Ha, Ha, um…Helpful. I’m helpful…not like you’re being Nat!
Nat – Passionate, determined, and easygoing.
Karls – She’s done this before Billy, don’t worry.
6. Best moment of your sporting Life?
Nat – Olympic Gold
Billy- Mine’s going to sound REALLY good next to that, seriously, the 3rd World Cup we won.
7. Finish the sentence – When the going gets tough…
Nat – Make it up!
Billy – Grit your teeth!
8. Five years from now, where are you?
Billy- Some place exotic – in a tracksuit (my body will be in need of serious air brushing then so I will cover it up) but wearing my Blades cap still
Nat – I’ll have a family and hopefully a very successful Beach club
9. Which Cartoon character do you most identify with?
Billy – I loved the smurfs…
Nat – (in a very convincing Smurfette voice says) “Is it much further Papa Smurf?”
Billy- Yeah, I liked her, but now I’m older I’m thinking – one chick and all those boy smurfs – is she really an appropriate role model? (Billy laughs)
Nat– Definitely Gummy Bears – drink the gummy juice and they bound high – that works for me in my line of work!
10. The best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?
Billy- My Dad said, “Do your best, that’s all you can do.”
Nat- “Never, Never, Give up”
The Drop off….
So Nat, why Beach Touch?
Nat – I believe we’ve built the best Beach sport facility in the world and I want it to be available to more members of the community. I want to diversify the sporting options for people and allow people to compete at social and competitive levels. Touch is a game that has a lot of potential and it’s exciting we can be the first in Brisbane to do this.
What’s on the competition horizon for you?
Nat – I’m back on the World Tour shortly. The next stop is Switzerland – it’s a Grand slam event…
Billy- What’s that about?
Karls – It’s worth more money there are four tournaments worth more than all others.
Nat – Yeah, very good Karls, you’ve done your homework, the slams are worth more money. The big thing is just working towards the next Olympics. We finished 7th in China and 9th in Athens a few weeks ago and that was our first tournament back together after some injury concerns, so we are building up nicely. There are 12 events comprising the FIVB World Tour and the idea is to just keep building towards the big goal.
Billy, what keeps you motivated to continue in the sport when you’ve achieved so much?
Billy – My teammates – the friendships and helping the youngsters coming through at the moment. They keep pushing me along and that’s a great challenge.
How do you think Qld will go in the Origin Series this time around?
Billy – We got lapped last time – I think we’re more solid this time – we’re fitter a bit better all round. To win 2 out of 3 would be great. Did you see the NSW side?
Karls – Yep, pretty impressive mate.
Billy – It’s almost our entire Aussie team – they are always hard to beat so we will have to be really on our game – it’ll be a good series.
Three facts you might not know about our Superstars.
Nat
1.Nat saw a notice on the sports noticeboard at Corinda State High School when she was 14 that said Volleyball trip to America and Canada. She went upstairs and saw the teacher and said, “I’d love to go to America and Canada, what’s Volleyball?”
2. Leading up to the Sydney Olympics everything in Nat’s world was Gold – from her clothing, to her toothpaste to her mobile phone –she surrounded herself with gold to reinforce the belief that winning an Olympic Gold Medal was her destiny.
3 Nat was Dux of her High school and studied Physiotherapy for two years before turning professional on the FIVB World Tour in 1994.
Billy
1. Sharyn started her Open representative career for Qld as a 16 year-old schoolgirl in 1993, and because of her youth earned the nickname “Billy the kid”.
2. She is a dual International having represented Australia in Women’s Rugby Union in 1994 and also represented Qld in softball as a junior.
3. Billy is Queensland’s most capped State of Origin Player ever with 19 appearances.
Many thanks to Sharyn Williams and Natalie Cook for giving up their time to complete this interview. They may play different sports, but the foundations of these champions are very similar. Both intelligent, athletically gifted, hard working, open, sincere, fiercely determined, passionate, down to earth, and wonderful role models for their respective sports.
Their humility, depth, good humour, and modesty make them popular and respected figures in any company and it will surprise no one to see these two great champions achieve many more milestones in every area of endeavour in their lives in the future.
For a full profile on Natalie Cook, please read here: NATALIE COOK PROFILE
For a full profile on Sharyn Williams, please read here: SHARYN WILLIAMS PROFILE
