Like Mother, Like Daughter - Katie Ball Honoured for Lifetime Achievement Award

Glorious early morning Autumn sunshine greeted Hertfordshire’s High Sheriff, Annie Brewster, on her recent visit to Broxbourne Rowing Club - based on the bank of the River Lea, on the Hertfordshire Essex border.

The High Sheriff’s visit was in response to a nomination received from Vice Chancellor at the University of Hertfordshire, Quintin Mckellar – himself a club member – seeking recognition for one of the club’s stalwarts, Katie Ball.

Katie was brought up within sight of the club, which she joined at the age of 12 as its only female rower - which, without any crewmates, meant she had to learn to single scull. Consequently, when she was 17, she moved to the Lea Rowing Club to row with other women and went on to compete for Great Britain at junior and senior level between 1975 and 1985 – finishing 7^th at the Los Angeles Olympics.

As well as rowing and coaching at both clubs, Katie is also a founder member and former captain of the Saracens Women’s Rugby Team. Having previously played for Wasps she also coached the England Under 18s national women’s team but upon her elevation to headteacher at her school, her coaching and participation in both sports then took a back seat until 2017, when she returned to the Broxbourne club as a coach to the Women and Juniors’ crews, with her masters’ women’s crew achieving success at the British Championships held in Henley.

In his citation, McKellar said:

 “It is fair to say Katie’s influence at Broxbourne has been transformational, both in terms of the number of women rowing and the standards to which they row. She is an inspirational coach with an endearing feature of underplaying her own part in the remarkable success of the club.”

In presenting Katie with a Herts Sport and Physical Activity Partnership (HSP) Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contribution to community sport in Hertfordshire, the High Sheriff, Annie Brewster said:

“Katie’s professional and sporting careers are indeed remarkable, and it was clear from the number in attendance and those enjoying their sport on the river, of the high esteem in which she is held, locally. Even more remarkable was that in conversation with Katie, we discovered that her mother was the late Maureen Ball who had founded Hertfordshire’s most successful netball club, Turnford – a Gold Caps accredited club with over 300 members. Like her daughter, Maureen – herself a recipient of the HSP Lifetime Achievement Award - lived a life of unstinting and selfless dedication to her sport and was such an inspirational individual who did much to open up so many opportunities for women and girls to enjoy their sport. Very much a case of… like mother like daughter!”

In welcoming Katie’s award, HSP Partnership Director, John O’Callaghan said:

“Volunteers like Katie are the lifeblood of British sport. Quite simply, without her like, sport as we know it today would not exist. Her enthusiasm and passion for rowing are infectious and what she has achieved and continues to achieve at Broxbourne Rowing Club has truly been transformational.

We are delighted to have played a small part in recognising her outstanding efforts with the presentation of this award and we are indebted to Annie Brewster the High Sheriff, for adopting Sport for Good as the theme of her year in office, and for the way that she is working tirelessly to bring a spotlight on the outstanding work being undertaken by Katie and her ilk across Hertfordshire, on a daily basis”

For further information on this article please contact Jane Parker, j.parker20@herts.ac.uk