Awestruck by ‘biggest fan’
ATHENS silver-medallist Brett Roneberg has opened up about the powerful impact his late sister, Tanya, had on his glittering baseball career.
The former basketball statistician was changing a bike tyre on the side of the Captain Cook Highway near Trinity Beach in 2013 when she tragically died after being struck by a ute.
Tanya’s death led to cycle safety laws being introduced by the Queensland Government in 2014 off the back of the Cairns Post’s Share the Road campaign. Roneberg, who was inducted into the Queensland Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015 after a career spanning more than a decade in the US minor leagues, said his sister’s constant encouragement pushed him to succeed.
“She was my biggest supporter by far,” Roneberg said.
“She flew down to watch me play finals one year in Brisbane, then came over when I was in the US as well.
“I flew over to Italy to see her after I won silver in Athens.”
Roneberg said one of his proudest moments was speaking at his sister’s memorial in front of 500-plus mourners at Cairns Basketball Stadium.
“When I got on stage to talk about her and saw all the people she mattered to was probably one of the greatest moments of my life,” he said.
“Sometimes you don’t realise the impact people have because you’re only one part of their lives. To know that she was that loved was special.” Post. Weekend