Fiona Robinson

Fiona Robinson
Personal information
Born7 February 1969
Perth, Western Australia
Medal record
Women's Basketball
Representing Australia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1996 Atlanta Team Competition

Fiona Mary Robinson (born 7 February 1969) is an Australian former basketball and handball player. She played 10 seasons in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and five seasons in the State Basketball League (SBL). She was a member of the Australia women's national basketball team that won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Four years later, she was a member of the Australia women's national handball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Basketball career

Robinson was a state representative for her native Western Australia as a junior before accepting a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport from 1985 to 1987,[1] where she played for the program's WNBL team.[2] She later accepted a scholarship to attend Southwest Texas State University and represented Australia in basketball at the 1987 Summer Universiade in Zagreb.[1]

In 1988, she played for the Perth Breakers in the WNBL. After winning the SBL MVP with the Stirling Senators in 1990, she played for the Breakers again in 1991. She also continued on with the Senators in 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994,[3] where she won her second SBL MVP in 1992[4] and an SBL championship in 1994.[5] She played her third, fourth and fifth seasons with the Perth Breakers from 1993 to 1995, before moving to Canberra and playing for the Canberra Capitals in 1996 and 1997.[6][7] She played for the Australia women's national basketball team that won the bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[8] She subsequently moved to Europe and played in Spain and Austria.[1]

In 2003 and 2004, Robinson played for the Frankston Blues in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).[9]

In July 2023, Robinson was inducted into the Basketball WA Hall of Fame.[10]

Handball career

After moving to Europe in the late 1990s, Robinson switched sports and began playing handball. She went on to play for the Australia women's national handball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[8]

Personal life

For a period in the early 1990s, Robinson was known as Fiona Massara.[11][12] Her surname returned to Robinson in the mid-1990s, later changing again to Fiona Hannan after marrying Andy Hannan. The two met in Canberra while she was playing for the Capitals and Andy was at the Australian Defence Force Academy.[13] Their daughter, Ashlee Hannan, was inline to play college basketball in the United States for the University of Texas in 2019–20[13] but she never debuted.[14] Ashlee joined the Perth Lynx in 2023.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Coaches: Fiona Hannan". 1st Pick Hoops. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. ^ Boyce, Dan (31 March 2019). "HOW AIS BASKETBALL PLAYERS ARE AMONG WORLD'S ELITE". aussiehoopla.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  3. ^ "STATE BASKETBALL LEAGUE WOMEN PLAYER REGISTER". basketballwa.asn.au. 2 September 2003. Archived from the original on 18 July 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  4. ^ "AWARDS HISTORY". SBL.asn.au. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Past Champions". SBL.asn.au. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Player Profile: Fiona Robinson". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  7. ^ "2018/19 WNBL Media Guide" (PDF). wnbl.basketball. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b O'Donoghue, Craig (20 July 2023). "Bronze medal winning Olympian Fiona Hannan to top off career by entering Basketball WA Hall of Fame". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Fiona Hannan". SEABL. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023.
  10. ^ O'Donoghue, Craig (19 July 2023). "Paul Rogers and Fiona Hannan to be inducted into Basketball WA Hall of Fame on Saturday night". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023.
  11. ^ "The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Page 69". The Age. 23 June 1991. Retrieved 26 March 2020. The recruitment of Timms has been the cornerstone of the revitalised program, and the play of tall Fiona Massara has given Perth another dimension.
  12. ^ "FLASHBACK 71: The Worlds That Wasn't". botinagy.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020. BOARDS BEASTS: Perth's Fiona Robinson (nee Massara) battling Islanders' centre Karen Smith.
  13. ^ a b Morison, Cathy (4 June 2019). "Nothing 'Austin'-tatious about Canberra Gem Hannan". cbr2usa.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  14. ^ Davis, Danny (5 November 2019). "Karisma Ortiz is 'practicing like she's going to play' for Texas, but Ashlee Hannan's status a mystery". hookem.com. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  15. ^ Lauren (11 September 2023). "YOUNG GUN ASHLEE HANNAN SIGNS WITH THE LYNX FOR 2023-24 SEASON". wnbl.basketball/perth. Retrieved 21 January 2024.