Kerri Pottharst
by Alyssa from Shallotte
|
| (http://profilemag.com.au/golden-girl/ (Profile Magazine)) |
Kerri Pottharst has lived the dream of all beach and indoor volleyball players. Winning Gold for Women's Beach Volleyball at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, her home place. Kerri and her partner Natalie Cook, stood on the podium at Bondi Beach while receiving their Gold metals. Kerri is a strong, motivated, and driven women who is beyond passionate about the sport she loves.
Born in 1965 in Adelaide, South Australia is where her story began. After trying various sports, and standing at 6'tall, Kerri knew there was a sport out there for her. One day her brother asked her to fill in at an indoor volleyball tournament. He explained that they needed 6 people on the court at the time the whistle blows and told her to step aside once the ball is in play, but rather than moving to the side, she started playing and the rest is history. After that day, she began playing indoor volleyball. By 1990 she had become one of the best Indoor Volleyball players in Australia. Kerri's will to improve and strive to become even better was her goal. At that point in time, Kerri thought of playing as a foreigner on another country's National League. Though she was lucky enough to earn a spot inn Bologna, North Italy on a Division 1 team. Kerri began playing that following year until her coach got fired and since she was a foreign player, her spot was next. Instead of throwing a pity party for herself, she work ten times as hard as anyone on that team and gave 110% to prove to the new coach she deserved to stay. And what do you know, the new coach was highly impressed with Kerri's playing and kept her on the team.
|
| Go For Gold! (booktopia.com ()) |
Towards the end of 1992, Kerri had suffered a serious knee injury that should of ended her career. At only 27 years old, she had been playing for the Australian National Team for the past 10 years and still wanted to learn and grow more as a volleyball player. She ended up rupturing a cruciate ligament, medial ligament, meniscus, and did serious damage to the cartilage in her knee. All of this led to two surgery's and two months in the hospital. After the incident, Kerri fell into a minor depression, questioning whether or not she will be able to walk, run or most importantly play volleyball again. Volleyball was her life.
Despite all odds against her, and thanks to her support system (her mom, dad, brother, and boyfriend) she was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and recovered in late 1993. Nevertheless, being the self driven, motivated, and persistent person Kerri is, she was back on the court in no time. Though she realized the floorboards were a bit much for her knee to handle, so she decided to try something she has always wanted to try and that is beach volleyball.
In 1996 Kerri and her partner Natalie Cook took Bronze at the 96 Olympic Games in Atlanta. This was their starting point, they knew they needed to do everything they could to win the next Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Along with having the best volleyball coach in the world, Steve Anderson, Success coach Kurek Ashley, and Strength and Conditioning coach Phil Moreland, they knew they would be unstoppable. The team of five worked day and night with each other, visualizing and training for the day. Kerri and Natalie knew how much hard work and dedication, both physically and mentally it would take to kick butt and win Gold. After an intense four years of training, planning, and mentally prepping, the day had come and they became Gold medalists. As time past, Kerri and Natalie split up and Kerri found her knew partner Summer Lochowiz. The two women went on to play at the very first Summer Olympics Games in Athens and took home silver.Too this day, Kerri is now officially retired. She had gotten married to her husband Max after the 2004 Olympic Games and has a son named Tyson, who was born in 2006. Bouncing back and forth from being a mum to doing speaking events, coaching elite level volleyball, and writing her first book, Kerri still enjoys every moment of it all. Her passion for volleyball will never fail and her strength, persistence and drive for everything she does will forever follow her.
Works Cited
"Biography." Biography. Web. 08 May 2016.
Pottharst, Kerri. The Business of Being an Athlete: How to Build a Winning Career in Sport. Manly, N.S.W.: Kerri Pottharst, 2010. Print.
Page created on 5/9/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last edited 5/9/2016 12:00:00 AM
The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.
