How does a woman who lives in Arizona, USA end up competing at Masters Day in Sydney? Well…. Louise Donnelly who teaches physie 450km west of Sydney – has the answers.

“Wendy started Physie as a junior at Lalor Park in the 70’s with the legendary Kay Blake. In those days there was no pre-recorded music, just the piano. When she moved to Brisbane for Uni she joined Bellbowrie club, made some lifelong friends and loved her physie, competing up until 1988.

When life took Wendy to Canada, she couldn’t find anything close to physie. So, she kept active with other sports, but she always missed physie and the connection it gave her. After raising a family and surviving the Covid years, the urge to do physie again became stronger. In 2023 she enquired about online classes and BJP gave her my name as I have several remote students that I teach online.

After a few emails back and forth, Wendy signed up with my club, zoomed into our 2pm Thursday ladies’ class and accessed my online videos for support. Through trial and error, we overcame obstacles together and found ways to make accessing the lessons easier.

At the Start of 2025, Wendy set her goal: to fly to Australia and compete at Ladies Masters. Her commitment to weekly classes was exceptional. I sent her home practice videos via different mediums so she could access them on the go, with routines explained, slow walk-throughs with tips and pointers and she practised at home every day. At times she would film herself and send to me for corrections and feedback.

With flights and accommodation booked, she flew to Sydney on the Thursday before the comp. We met face-to-face for the first time on the Friday and spent the weekend getting to know each other. It was like reconnecting with an old friend! We had so much in common and conversation was easy, all thanks to Physie and zoom.

Competing was everything she remembered and more. Already she is looking forward to 2026, planning her outfits and travel. Next time she will make it a two-week adventure so she can have some face-to-face classes before she takes the floor.

Wendy got to meet a handful of our ladies in Sydney that she chats to in our weekly zoom class. It has opened up the world of physie to her again, which she missed so much and she has just loved the new friends and connections we have all been able to make through this adventure together.”

Louise Donnelly
Lachlan Valley Physie