Heather commenced her training in 1975. She originally studied under Jan de Jong in Perth. She changed to Yoseikan Ryu Karate when Sensei Yoshiaki Unno was invited by Jan de Jong to teach karate in Perth.
Heather was Yoseikan Ryu’s and Australia’s first female Asian Pacific Champion in 1983 in Nagoya, Japan. What made Heather’s win extraordinary was the fact that she was losing 4-0 to Japan in the finals. She fought against all the odds to win. This was in spite of the fact that a majority of the referees were Japanese. Many of Australia’s female tournament champions still use Heather as their inspiration to success. Heather won two National titles, the Asian Pacific title, and a silver medal in the Women’s World Cup in 1985.
Heather retired from competition in 1986. She left karate some years later to start a family. Heather returned to karate in 1996 and spent the next 9 years teaching at Altone. It was then that she decided that she needed a new direction in life.