Gayle's story begins with her parents who were both table tennis players. Her father Ken played A grade Brisbane fixtures where he once beat Arden Robinson, an up-and-coming player who had been unbeaten in fixtures for several seasons. Ken remembered Arden shedding tears, but Arden recovered from the loss very well, later becoming Australian champion!!
When Gayle's father transferred to Toowoomba for work as a young man, he met Gayle's mother Dell on his first day in the office. Coincidentally, she also played table tennis fixtures. However Dell wasn't very competitive in nature. She seemed to always have much more fun when losing games! She had an infectious laughter and always giggled when she lost a point.
The family moved to Townsville and as a youngster Gayle played table tennis on the kitchen table with plastic paddles, until eventually the family bought a proper table for under the house.
Aged 11, she began playing junior fixtures in Townsville where she met her longtime friend and doubles partner (to this day), Therese Chappell (nee Sherriff).
In 1971 Gayle won her first state title in the U18 Girls when she was only 13 years old! She beat favourite Kerry Thompson in the semi-final. Kerry also recovered from that unexpected loss – like Arden she went on to become Australian champion! :)
Gayle's family moved to Perth in 1972 where she very soon gave up the game, not enjoying the club culture over there. Back in Brisbane, she resumed playing when she was 19 and played continuously for the next 30 years.
In 1983 Gayle and Therese won their first Queensland Closed Doubles title, and won again in ‘98. Gayle also won two Queensland Closed Doubles titles in ‘94 and ‘96 with Clare Owen.
At the ripe old age of 33 Gayle was ranked in the top 10 of Australia's women players for the first - and only! - time.
Gayle began playing the Australian Veterans Championships when she turned 40. A highlight was in 2004 winning the Over 40s Teams title with Therese, Andrea McDonnell and Pam Clarke.
She gave up playing for 10 years with a chronic shoulder injury and increasing work and volunteer commitments, but eventually discovered that her shoulder had improved with the long rest. So she returned to tournaments in 2017. Since then she has won three consecutive Over 60s and Over 65s Australian Doubles titles with Therese and in 2023 was the Over 65 Australian Singles Champion.
Gayle's playing style has evolved over the years. As a junior she could only push and smash. Then at 20 she took lessons from former Brisbane player Lee Brittain who taught her to loop. You could say that Gayle has a very dangerous forehand and she will attack most balls. Nowadays she uses medium pimples on her backhand, a dangerous combination for her opponents!
In her working life, Gayle was a teacher, a Head of Curriculum and an English curriculum writer. She is also a passionate animal advocate, joining Animal Liberation Queensland when it began in 1979. She is still a very active volunteer and was awarded honorary life membership in 2009.
Gayle has had a distinguished table tennis career! She still loves the game and the challenges of competition, but she admits that she is not keen on too much practice! Well, why would you need much practice if you play so well!! Also, being one of the few women players in Division 1, Gayle is a great example and role model of embracing the challenges of tournaments and developing the mental toughness and attitude to succeed.
PS. We will miss Gayle at this year's National Veterans Championships in Tasmania as she has had to pull out because of some recent health issues.
