HOLLAND (MATHER), Mary-Ellen

BORN ABOUT 1939 in Sydney to ice skating parents, she began lessons at Sydney Glaciarium from the age of 2-and-a-half when Cubby Lyons and Mirey Reid were instructors. In fact, her parents named her younger sister Mireylees after the only daughter of the sports’ founder, H Newman Reid. At 4 she could spin, spiral and toe-run, winning admiration as the youngest skater ever to lead a ballet in an ice revue in Australia. At 9, she won second place in the 1948 Novice Cup, and at 10 she skated on stilts as the tightrope walker in a circus ballet on ice with a young Allan Ganter and Lois Thomson.

She skated to Gold in no less than seven New South Wales Senior Championships, claiming the title of Australian Ladies Champion for her state over four straight seasons (1964, ’65, ’66, 67). In 1966, she gave figure and free skating exhibitions throughout the South Island of New Zealand with Australian dance pair, Bill Hewison and Edwina Sloman.

"I was so lucky to skate with Mary Ellen in 1964 and stay at her home with her mother and sister in 1964," wrote Sue Hoseit of the New Zealand skating association. "She was my idol. It was wonderful to welcome her to NZ in 1966 and again with Kirsten at NZ Nationals in Gore. I spent a time with Mary-Ellen in Melbourne just two years ago. She remains my idol".

She represented Australia in the senior World Championships in Geneva in 1968 (21/22) where Australia’s Sydney Croll was a judge, and at the World Professional Championships in London. A nationally accredited Level 3 coach, she trained in Sydney, London and Switzerland, and skated in Ice Shows and TV Shows in England.

In March 1977, she founded the Western Australian Ice Skating Association with her husband Doug and a group of enthusiastic parents and skaters. The first meeting was held in the Mather home and she remained its heart, soul, and backbone until her death. Her husband Doug later became the association’s longest-serving president, also serving as National Treasurer from 1992 to 2002, and as a member of the national council.

Coaching director of Perth Ice Arena’s Aussie Skate program, she was also the coaches’ representative to the state association. She taught generations of WA athletes, sharing her passion and love for the sport, and supported state athletes at many AFSC events throughout her life, with or without a personal or professional interest.

Her daughter Kirsten was the state’s first International skater in Hungary placing 8 out of 20, and the state’s first Scholarship holder in 1995. She first represented Western Australia at nationals at primary level at the age of eight, and continued to senior level. Her competitive career lasted 17 years, 1986 to 2003, after which she joined her mother coaching at Perth Ice Arena.

She attended the 2016 Australian Figure Skating Championships in Melbourne, despite a grave illness, and watched with pride as Kirsten competed. Inducted to the ISA Hall of Fame on December 2nd 2016, she died soon after on the evening of December 21st, having farewelled generations of skating athletes who benefited from her mentoring and training. In 2016, the state association established the Mary-Ellen Holland Memorial Competition in her memory.

"A remarkable and dedicated person," wrote Jon Bonny, a coach at Cockburn Ice Arena, "who never lost her enthusiasm or her love of this sport. Mary-Ellen always had or made time for everyone who needed it, no matter in what capacity. She truly had a lifetime in figure skating".