The Otago Daily Times counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport
No 77: Our Yvonne makes NZ debut (1967)
That's what happened to Yvonne Fogarty, part of one of Otago's famous sporting families, in 1967, when she was picked in the New Zealand table tennis team for the world championships in Sweden.
Fogarty had inherited a love and talent for the sport from her father, Otago table tennis champion Bill.
"Wild Bill" and sister Margaret were both New Zealand champions, and numerous descendants won Otago titles.
The Fogartys had converted stables into a table tennis room in their Oxford St home, and it was there Yvonne honed her skills.
In 1966, she was South Island junior champion. What followed was much excitement as the selectors called the Dunedin schoolgirl to inform her she was to be the fourth member of the New Zealand women's team going to the world championships in Stockholm the following year.
A catch was she had to fund part of the trip, 500, herself. A committee was formed, headed by the mayor of St Kilda, and a fair, a raffle and a basketball match raised the money.
"It was remarkable how everyone came together to help," Fogarty later recalled.
"I suppose I must have captured the imagination a bit. I was just 15 and I was a local girl from a big family who had had a little bit of success."
Fogarty went on to represent New Zealand at four world championships and three Commonwealth championships.
Her best results at the international level were a team silver medal at the 1971 Commonwealth championships, a singles bronze at the 1973 Commonwealth championships, and team bronze at the daunting Asian championships in 1974.
She was also part of the New Zealand team that made a ground-breaking trip to China in 1974.
In all, she claimed 25 national titles, including two open singles titles, and represented New Zealand in Singapore, Nagoya, Cardiff, Yokohama, Melbourne and Calcutta.
Fogarty returned to top interclub competition in Dunedin last year at the age of 57.
