Danielle Drady is a Māori Australian from the Ngāti Maruiwi. Drady's mother Prue Drady migrated to Australia in 1961 from the Wātene family Mātai Whetu marae near Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand'sNorth Island. Drady became interested in the sport as a young child when she started tagging along with her mother to her twice-weekly social squash gatherings at a local club. She won the Queensland under-12 championship in 1978, and then went on to claim state and national championships and an under-19 world teamcrown in her junior years. In 1984, Drady joined the Australian Institute of Sport in Brisbane. Drady turned professional in 1987, and began to steadily climb the world rankings. Her relationship with one of the top men's players, Rodney Martin, also attracted attention in the late-1980s and early-1990s. Having reached the World No. 2 ranking in 1991, the World No. 1 spot appeared to be within Drady's reach. However, her chances were dashed when she snapped her achilles tendon during a practice match. The injury required immediate surgery and kept her out of the game for some time. In a bid to attract attention and sponsorship for Drady's comeback from injury, and to promote the world's first outdoor squash tournament in 1994, Drady's manager Phil Harte wrapped her in glad wrap to play her matches outside Sydney's Martin Placeshopping centre in 1994. Drady played and won the World Outdoor Pro-Am wrapped in plastic, and posed for photographs with a 'For Sale' sign strung around her neck. This created a great deal of media coverage and sparked debate about the lengths female athletes should and need togo to in order to attract funding and sponsors. The publicity soon led to Drady becoming the most sponsored player in squash for a period. Drady continued to play top-level squash into the late-1990s. She won the Australian Open in 1996 and the 1998 World Open Pro-AM Sydney. However, her international career began to take a backseat following her marriage to her husband Phil Harte and the birth of her daughter Tayla. Between 2010 and 2015, Drady established the first squash and fitness academy at the Emirates Golf and Country Club in Dubai. As of 2018, Drady lives between Sydney and Dubai. She and her husband Harte run Harte International Events Manager. She also manages an international lifestyle and travel magazine called Classic Lifestyle.
