Paralympian and politician celebrates International Women’s Day at Avondale

An Australian Paralympic basketball and sailing medallist now politician has spoken at Avondale as part of its annual celebration of International Women’s Day.

Liesl Tesch has so many achievements they have to be summarised to fit on her Wikipedia page. In her address to the Avondale Women’s Network (AWN) this past Tuesday (March 10), Tesch shared the high and low moments of her life and career, reminding her audience it is our responsibility to do great things with the path on which we have found ourselves and to advocate for women who have less than we do.

Tesch became an incomplete paraplegic after a mountain bike accident at age of 19 but discovered during her rehabilitation that she had a talent for basketball. She would compete in the Australian national basketball team at three Paralympics and became the first woman to play the sport professionally and the only woman on the professional wheelchair basketball teams she joined in Madrid, on Sardinia and in Paris. She helped establish a women’s wheelchair basketball league in Australia and in Europe. In 2009, Tesch participated in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and then partnered with Beijing silver medallist Daniel Fitzgibbon to win a gold medal in sailing at the London and Rio games in 2012 and 2016.

One of the things about which Tesch is most passionate is advocacy, with her most recent career move, after decades as a high school teacher and professional athlete, into politics. Tesch is Member for Gosford in the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of New South Wales, where she represents those in the city and those who have needs but no voice. Her call to action for the women of Avondale: to get political and to advocate for those who need us.

The women’s network is headed by Avondale Business School Head Associate Professor Lisa Barnes.