Still game at 82! RONNIE'S SLAM DUNK

The Basketball representative has never let go ofher hoop dreams

- Ruth Jillings

Ronnie Vance is a Christmas Day baby and as this festive season marks her 82nd birthday, the inspirational octogenarian shares she has no plans to get old any time soon.

While many of her peers are opting for more relaxed pastimes, every Monday morning Ronnie laces up her sneakers and takes to the basketball court, just as she has done for the past 65 years.

“I’ve loved basketball since my very first game, but it’s the friendships I’ve made that keep me coming back,” says Ronnie, who stumbled across the sport in 1957.

Then 17 years old and a milliner’s apprentice at the iconic Auckland department store Smith & Caughey’s, she wanted a break from the detailed work of hat-making.

“I wasn’t used to sitting all day long, so one afternoon I walked to the YWCA up the road,” shares the mum-of-three. “I fancied fencing, but I couldn’t afford the fees on my apprentice salary of 2 pounds 5 shillings per week. They told me I could look downstairs and that’s when I first saw women playing basketball.”

At 1.6 metres (5 foot 3 inches), Ronnie isn’t your conventional basketballer, but she’s never been one to let her height hold her back and is still a fierce competitor.

“When I was younger, I was very fast,” she tells. “I just used to see the gap, and go to the hoop and could score 20 or 30 points a game.”