About Rita Paulos

I grew up as a country girl reared in a tent.  Following the Depression my Dad went from job to job in the bush.  Being a child during World War ll gave me the practical knowledge and realisation that rough times and hard work did not hurt people but brought out in them resourcefulness, character, and endurance.

I received my primary schooling at one teacher country schools.  During 1952–53, for my secondary schooling, I attended Boarding School at Yeppoon on the Central Coast of Queensland.

As a young girl, for three years, I spent many hours hitting a tennis ball against the verandah wall of our farm house.  One day my Dad took me to tennis where I made a proper nuisance of myself to the players by running backwards and forwards retrieving and hitting balls.  This began my love of hand-eye co-ordination sports.

After some tennis coaching while I was at boarding school, I played in the school's A Grade team.  By the time I began working I had become a top local competitor, and also represented my work-place in interstate competitions.

One rainy day our tennis group tried playing squash instead, and I became "hooked".  I liked the fact that squash was an all-weather sport played indoors that gave me heaps of exercise and enjoyment in one hour.  It really suited my lifestyle and gave me opportunities for more than forty years.

Meanwhile, I started my early working life as an office junior progressing to clerical and secretarial duties while continuing night-school.  I worked in private enterprise and government positions including working for the Prime Minster, Bob Menzies’ secretariat in Commonwealth Government, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.  I guess you could say that, at this point of my life, I was in training.  The wages were not great; extra pay was earned by gaining higher qualifications.

After getting married and ten years of perseverance and training at squash, I was selected to represent my home state for three years in succession, and our team won the National Championships conducted in Perth, Western Australia–the Highlight of my squash playing days.  I had a family now, and, as mentioned in the previous section, becoming a professional squash coach was a natural progression and suited my family responsibilities perfectly.

I was the first woman coach in Queensland and enjoyed the development opportunities of a pioneer.  There was a lot to learn to become better qualified and more professional in the management of athletes, so I enlisted in every coaching course available including: sports psychology lectures, fitness lectures and demonstrations, sports injury prevention seminars, stretching seminars, refereeing seminars, first aid certificate courses, coach the trainer courses, and massage courses.  My last qualification was “Certificate IV Assessment in Workplace Training”.  My final position was Director of Coaching at Queensland Squash.

I am now a self-funded retiree and as some would say, gone from rags to riches.  Others would say I'm tight with my money, and one of my grandchildren said “You had it tough, and that made you a bit hard.”  I would say it has given me scope and more resilience to adversity.