McMinn lands on her feet with Steel contract
Working as an air hostess and at a mining camp in West Australia kept life interesting for Kendall McMinn before she renewed ties with Southern Steel.
McMinn, 26, gained a full season player contract with Steel this year after being in the team for several games in 2018.
‘‘I’ve wanted this for so long,’’ McMinn said of securing a full season contract.
She and fiance Paddy Corkery lived in West Australia for four years before returning to Invercargill 18 months ago. Corkery worked in a mine, while McMinn was employed at the mine’s campsite doing a variety of work including truck and forklift driving and cleaning rooms.
For the last year of their stay in West Australia, McMinn was a Qantas air hostess.
She was on planes for four flights a day transporting mostly workers to and from mining areas in the state.
McMinn said it was a massive change going from the campsite to working on passenger planes.
‘‘I went from red dirt to orange make up.’’
McMinn is always up for a challenge and last year she won a bout at the Fight For Kidz charity boxing event in Invercargill.
She began playing netball at age 8 or 9 but her interest in the sport grew during study at Verdon College. Former Steel coach Robyn Broughton was head netball coach at Verdon and passed on valuable advice to McMinn.
‘‘That was a turning point for me . . . getting guidance from Robyn.
‘‘I owe her a lot and it’s helped me get to where I am now.’’
Playing in the Beko League has been a beneficial stepping stone for McMinn’s progress into the Steel team.
Outside training and competition games, she visits schools to give pupils information and demonstrations on warming up correctly for netball games. An inadequate warm up can lead to injury, McMinn said.
Steel play Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic at Stadium Southland on Monday night.