Whether Joy Knudson picked up a badminton racquet, a tennis racquet or a golf club, she swung it with authority. As a result of success in all three areas, she was honoured in the all-round category. These were not her only sports. Knudson, (then Joy Campbell), was named the top female athlete at Kelvin High School in 1954 after starring in basketball, volleyball, speed skating, tennis and as a sprinter, finishing third in the Provincial 75 yard final.

She concentrated on badminton and tennis and, in 1958, was Provincial Singles champion in both sports. In 1960 she was Western Canadian Singles badminton champion, was a silver medallist at the Canadian championship, played for Canada against New Zealand and was a semi-finalist in the US Open. She won national bronze medals in Singles and Doubles two years later and in 1993 was Ladies Singles 50+champion. Knudson was Manitoba Singles badminton champ nine times, Ladies’ Doubles winner six times and a Mixed Doubles winner on four occasions.

She lived in Montreal for a time and captured both the Quebec Singles and Doubles titles in 1963. In tennis, Knudson won five consecutive Manitoba Junior Girls’ Singles tennis titles and was ranked 8th in Canada. In 1956, ‘57 and ‘58 she was Manitoba Ladies’ Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles Champion.

At the age of 45, Joy Knudson participated in a golf school run by her brother-in-law, the late George Knudson. After one day she said, “I’m going to play this game seriously.” To many people that might mean attempting to break 80. To Knudson, it meant being a member of the Manitoba Seniors Ladies golf team in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995 and 1999. She was a Canadian champion in 1989 at the National Clubs Team championship.

Joy now joins her brother-in-law, George, a 1988 inductee, as a member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.