Member Spotlight: Belinda Donaldson

From the sidelines to the mat

Eight years ago, Belinda Donaldson knew taekwondo from the sidelines. She was a taekwondo mum, or as she puts it, "taxi, cheerleader, couch sitter," getting her son to training three days a week. Today she's a black belt, an athlete and an Assistant Coach for the Tasmanian Team, and her story is proof that it's never too late to find your sport.

Sport wasn't always part of Belinda's life. "In my teenage years Idid not have a love for sport," she says. "I was a girl and girls don't do sport apart from netball and I wasn't very good at that."

It was watching her son that changed things. During COVID she took up jogging around the football oval, "very slowly," and gave basketball a go. "I started finding I liked this sport thing. Exercise made me feel good and I started feeling a sense of achievement."

A little over four years ago, with some encouragement, Belinda decided it was her turn. "So I strapped on the white belt, hid in the corner andpaid attention to those around me to learn a thing or two." She soon learned something new about herself too. "Turns out I am a bit competitive which I didn't know about myself until I started Taekwondo."

Her turning point came at her first nationals in 2023, competing as a blue belt in the head kick division for the very first time. "As strange as it sounds, I was able to kick my opponent in the head and that unlocked something. I could kick to my own head height." She apologised to her opponent straight away, much to her coach's exasperation, but the moment stayed with her. "I was responding to my coaching. I felt capable. I felt like I belonged."

Earlier this year, as co-captain of the team, circumstances at a competition saw Belinda step up and take on some assistant coaching. She loved it, earned her coaching accreditation and is now formally an Assistant Coach for the Tasmanian Team. "Being an assistant coach has taught me that everything your athlete feels, you feel," she says. "The best feelingI have experienced is the pride."

That pride doesn't depend on the scoreboard. Two athletes she workedwith recently lost their matches, and she couldn't have been prouder. One youngwoman "did what we trained her to do, she moved, she dodged and shescored." A young man who had kicked Belinda in the head at training wentout and landed exactly that skill. "The result didn't matter to me what mattered was that I made a difference."

When another taekwondo mum shared the Empowered to Lead scholarship in the group chat, Belinda's first thought was simple. "I looked into it and thought why not? No harm done if I am not successful with my application."Then the selection letter arrived. "I couldn't believe it. Me. Little oldme from Tassie. I couldn't have accepted faster."

She went in expecting a series of videos and someone telling the group what to do. What she found was something else entirely. "What I experienced was an engaging discussion with like minded women who are passionate about female sport and supporting women in leadership and sport." She felt that support when she shared her own story, and she was able to give it back when others shared theirs.

One moment stood out above the rest. Holly took Belinda through an exercise called the 5 Whys, where each question digs a little deeper into what really drives you. "I found that little girl inside that always felt like she couldn't because she was a girl. I don't want anyone to ever feel like that. We are girls and we can do anything!"

The change in Belinda across the program was clear. "Early on in the program I was very quick to delegate someone else to be a team leader andtowards the end of the program I was bringing my own stories, ideas and thoughts to the group."

The biggest shift was in how she sees herself. "I embraced my own journey and stopped using my son as an excuse to do taekwondo. I am my ownperson with my own journey as an athlete and coach." Now she plans to useher strengths to become the best athlete and coach she can be, carrying lessonsfrom the mat into everyday life: "A drive to improve. A way of carryingoneself confidently so that those around you can feel confident too."

Looking ahead, Belinda will keep growing as a coach and athlete alongside the growing team of Tasmanians heading to the national stage. She also hopes to start running her own sessions to help girls build their sparring skills. It's personal for her. "I truly believe there is a sport for everyone and wish I had the opportunities when I was in primary school to find that sport."

So what does it mean to Play Like a Girl? For Belinda, it's about owning all of who you are. "Play Like a Girl is embracing every part of who you are. Shattering the societal expectations of women and standing tall saying this is who I am. This is who we are. We are women and we will not be told to sit down or stand aside. We are capable, we are strong and we are here!"

Belinda started out hiding in the corner of the room. Now she's standing tall beside the next generation of Tasmanian athletes, making sure no girl grows up believing sport isn't for her.

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