Sport

Sport was a drain on feminine energies, a ladylike game of croquet or tennis in a social party was permissible, but ladies did not 'compete'.  As the image of the healthy outdoor girl became popular in the 1920s and 1930s, women began to play more competitive sport and to join sporting clubs. Still they suffered from the isolation of Western Australia and the attitude that women in sport were not to be taken seriously.

Decima Norman missed selection in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games because there was no Perth club to test her. By the 1948 Games, Shirley Strickland had begun her golden career. In the Olympic Games of 1948, 1952 and 1956  she won 3 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals and went on to promote and support sport for women in the West.

Cricket

Though there were competitive women's cricket teams in the early 1930s, competition stopped during WWII and was not resumed until the 1980s. By 1981 there were 5 Western Australians in a national team and the State won the National Championship in 1987.  By the 1990s a number of teams were playing regularly in domestic competition.