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The
Australian Handball Federation is proud to announce that another one of
the country’s elite female handballers has secured a contract to play
overseas. Mary Kelly, of Queensland had recently secured a contract to
play for Silkeborg-Voel KFUM in the Women’s Division in the Danish
Handball League.
Mary is
now living and training in Ikast, Denmark. She went to Ikast in January
to May 2011 to further train and prepare for the Oceania Region World
Championship Qualifying Tournament in June 2011.
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Mary Kelly |
Since
her initial involvement in handball in 2005, Mary has represented
Queensland in various national championships and Australia in major
international competitions. She was part of the Australian Women’s
Team which competed and won in the Oceania Region World Championship
Qualifying tournaments and the subsequent World Championships in 2007
[France], 2009 [China] and 2011 [Brazil]. She had the team’s best
shooting percentage in 2009 World Champs and was the 2nd top scorer at
2011 Oceania Qualifyer. She has been training in Ikast since January
2011 and with Silkeborg-Voel KFUM Liga and Division 2 team straight
after the World Championship in Brazil.
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Veronica and Mary Kelly |
In
October 2011, Mary was one of the nominees for "Local Heroine Category -
I support Women in Sport Awards”. The awards organised by Women’s
Health Magazine are aimed at recognizing female athletes from grassroots
to elite level, who have performed well in their sport and don't
necessarily get all the recognition they deserve. In all there were 12
categories, with 61 nominees divided amongst each category. A voting
poll was open to the public over a 2 month period in which people could
vote for their favourite nominee. The Red Carpet event for the awards
held at the MCG in
Melbourne,
was a success with many great sporting athletes attending the awards
event. Mary was chosen as a nominee for the "Local Heroine" category for
her efforts in assisting with fundraising, developing and playing at a
high level for handball.
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Mary Kelly playing
against Argentina - Photo by Cinara Piccolo |
Mary
comes a family of handballers, with her twin sister Veronica also being
a member of the Australian Women’s Team and her brother Daniel in the
Men’s Team. With the encouragement from her siblings and the rest of
the family, coupled with her passion for the sport and representing her
country, Mary is sure to achieve her aims in handball and in life. |
