Helen Nethercott

Helen Nethercott was born near St. Marys, Ontario, worked in London in the early 1940s and moved to Kitchener-Waterloo when she was in her early twenties. She worked for BF Goodrich until her retirement at age 68.

Nethercott has been involved in a variety of sports through her entire life. Her first awards were for bowling in the 1940s, followed by awards in basketball, tennis and badminton in the 1950s. She also played hockey, softball, curling and volleyball.

In the early 1950s, Nethercott organized and played for a women’s basketball team that played in the Can-Am league throughout Southern Ontario. Her team won the 1956 Ontario Senior B title, and was runner up at the Canadian level. The next year, the team won the 1957 Ontario Senior A title, and again was runner up at the Canadians.

She was not only a participant, but also an active volunteer in sports throughout her life. Nethercott volunteered for the Western, a regional Southern Ontario open tennis tournament, from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and took on the role of tournament director for many years. She continues to volunteer for the WOW women’s tennis tournament, held annually at the Waterloo Tennis Club (WTC).

In 1970 she was awarded a life membership at the WTC for her extensive volunteer work for the club, including her years as Team Captain and serving on the Club’s Board of Directors. In 1992, she received the WTC sportsmanship award, and later, the club lounge was named in her honour.

In her seventies, Nethercott competed in the Ontario, Canadian and American senior/masters badminton championships. In addition to winning many gold, silver and bronze medals, she won sportsmanship awards in 1998 from Badminton Canada, and in 2000 from the US Senior Badminton Championships.

She competed until 2011 when she retired from competitive sports. In total, Nethercott has received 117 medals and awards for her athletic achievements in multiple sports, primarily badminton (75), tennis (33), as well as bowling (6) and basketball (3).

Photography by Highland Portrait Studio.