Vale: Sports administrator Andrea Mitchell

Sports administrator and former Western Australian Government Minister Andrea Mitchell has died at the age of 64 as a result of a longtime heart condition.

A physical education teacher for 15 years at various Perth high schools, Mitchell was then employed by the Western Australian Department of Sport and Recreation, initially as a consultant and then in managerial positions.

A passionate tennis player and renowned for her incredible work ethic, Mitchell joined the Tennis West Board in 1988. She took on the Vice President role in 1991, then became the first female President in the association’s history in 1996. She spent 12 years in the President role and was also a Director of the Hopman Cup.

Mitchell later served on the Tennis Australia Board from 1997 to 2007, becoming the first woman to attend a Tennis Australia Board meeting in a representative capacity, paving the way for other women to play a key role in the sport’s administration both at a state and national level.

Mitchell, also a former Commissioner of the Australian Sports Commission, was awarded the Australian Sports Medal for her contribution to the sport in 2000 and received Tennis West life membership in 2013.

Outside of sport, at the 2008 Western Australia election, Mitchell successfully contested the seat of Kingsley for the Liberal Party, holding the seat until 2017.

She was elevated to the Ministry in March 2016, becoming Minister for Child Protection and Minister for Mental Health until the March 2017 state election.

After this she was appointed to the Board of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) in November 2017, a role she held at the time of her death.

Commenting on her passing, Tennis West President Jan Truscott said Mitchell would be remembered as a trailblazer, advising “champions of tennis are always thought of as the players, but in this case, Andrea was a champion administrator, working tirelessly behind the scenes to grow our sport, strengthen our major events, and develop our promising young players.

“The WA tennis community will be forever grateful for what Andrea has contributed to our sport. She was a pioneer for women, a hard-worker, and an incredible advocate for tennis. She will be sorely missed.”

International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty described her as being “highly regarded by the tennis world”, adding “Andrea was exceptionally astute, a force for good and a tireless advocate for tennis and women. She made a vast contribution in her different roles.”

ASC Chair John Wylie went on to say “the ASC has been very fortunate to have had Andrea as a member of our Board since 2017, and to see first-hand her devotion to community sport in particular.

“We are devastated to have lost her. Her succinct and wise contributions at ASC meetings were always on the mark and will be sorely missed.

“Sport relies so much on the remarkable passion, commitment and insight of people like Andrea.”

Image of Andrea Mitchell courtesy of Sport Australia.