This year, 26 district sporting legends are being inducted to the hall of fame, honour roll and junior honour roll categories in the Greater Shepparton Sports Hall of Fame. The News is featuring stories on each of the inductees in the lead-up to the induction ceremony on August 6. Today News reporter Max Stainkamph speaks to Alan Rossignoli, who is being inducted to the junior honour roll.
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One day, at age 13, someone at St Andrew's Tennis Club asked Alan Rossignoli if he wanted a hit of badminton.
Five years later, he was part of the Victorian side which won the under-17 titles and rocketed himself into conversations about the best junior badminton players in the country.
A little more than five years later, after playing in the Silver Bowl against the best players from Australia and New Zealand and several doubles and singles titles later, Rossignoli stepped away from the sport entirely.
In those 10 years with a badminton racquet in his hands and a shuttlecock in his sights, Rossignoli played in front of Prince Charles and helped open the Shepparton Indoor Sports Stadium with an exhibition match.
He’s now being recognised by the Greater Shepparton Sports Hall of Fame for his feats in the sport.
“Being on that honour roll is something I’m proud of and it’s something for my family to be proud of, it’s a credit to them,” Rossignoli said.
He said his first time playing — in the under-14 competition — he wasn’t much chop, but by under-15s he cleaned up the Shepparton titles under the watchful and helping eyes of Ken Tyquin and others, and eventually made the leap to playing in Melbourne.
Rossignoli said playing in Melbourne was a bit of a shock after training and playing in low-ceilinged church halls in the Goulburn Valley.
“Singles was harder because in Melbourne the ceilings are high and they use it to their advantage,” he said.
“We played for all those years in community halls and church halls, for a time the back of the court was the church back.”
Rossignoli loved playing at higher levels.
“I loved the competition. I just wanted to keep getting better and better and I hated losing,” he said.
He began playing at Albert Park while at university, cleaning up at tiles in Colac, Bendigo and Ballarat.
“Playing senior badminton as a junior was tremendous and really gave me the confidence to have a go at more tournaments,” Rossignoli said.
An under-17 tournament in South Australia followed, with Victoria winning the title.
It showed me the standard around Australia. As I got older and played in statewide competition we were playing against some of the best in the state,” Rossignoli said.
“We had the number-one ranked players in Australia, two or three of the top five. I was playing against them every second week, makes a huge difference in developing your skills.
“The best way to improve yourself was playing with the best people in the country.”
From there he went to Newcastle as part of the international event the Silver Bowl.
“I’d never really been out of Victoria prior to that, it was an extraordinary tournament,” he said.
“A number of Victorians came across and I probably beat a number of Victorian players.
“I couldn’t believe I managed to compete the whole way through singles, doubles and mixed doubles.”
From there, Rossignoli as a 20-year-old won three titles in the one year — something which had only been done once before — and when a national under-21 competition was made the next year he was made captain of the Victorian side.
“It was a dream come true, really, the dream was to play for Victoria and that was the epitome of being able to get there.,” he said.
He continued to compete in tournaments and to win, until a few years later Rossignoli stepped away from the sport.
He was married and had a young family,, while work was also taking up a significant portion of his life.
“I still played premier comps in Melbourne, but I didn’t attend the tournaments, Rossignoli said.
“A lot of people were hitting gyms and doing physical bodybuilding work and it was something I couldn’t put the time into.”
With good friend Michael Scandolera coming up behind him and fellow Shepparton product Rhonda Cator both going on to Commonwealth Games, Rossignoli said it made him wonder what could have been, but doesn’t regret the decision to step away from the sport.
“You make a decision and move on, but it would have been interesting if I’d put the real effort and time into it,” he said.
He moved back to Shepparton, where he’s worked in real estate for some four decades, and while he did get back onto the court, injury forced him back off it.
It also gave him a chance to help play in the stadium he helped open, which he said was an honour.
“They had badminton, basketball, a whole heap of sports represented in the hall and the stadium was full,” Rossignoli said.
“It was a wonderful thing to be out here and playing and for my family to come along and see all that happening.
“(For juniors) to be able to come here and have this height and ability for younger ones to get the experience to play in a big high hall which is where all the national competitions are was great.”
He’d enjoyed being back in the fold of the Shepparton association, which he thanked for helping give him a start decades ago.
“Shepparton had an exceptionally strong association, but dedicated people who wanted to see it grow and thrive … there was a tremendous atmosphere, people who loved the game and helped it develop,” he said.
He also thanked his mum Belle and wife Wendy for the amount of time they put into the sport and to helping him succeed at it.
More on the Sports Hall of Fame
Third induction ceremony of Greater Shepparton Sports Hall of Fame stars looms large on the horizon
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