When the Australian national side gather in for the final moment before they take to the court for a match, their hands locked together, it’s not “Diamonds” or “Australia” that is their last battle cry before the whistle blows. It’s “sisters”. And that is thanks to Laura Geitz.
When the team was searching for their identity after Lisa Alexander took over as coach, it was a young Geitz who spoke up and said that when the players stood together with their arms around each other for the national anthem she felt like they were all her sisters.
It was a mark of what was to come – that small moment when the young voice felt the confidence to speak up amongst her more experienced teammates spoke volumes. Two years later, Geitz would become the first Australian captain to be selected by her peers. Following the retirement of Natalie von Bertouch, Alexander wanted the players to have the accountability of choosing their own captain, and overwhelmingly they trusted Geitz with the leadership role.
Her retirement announcement on Monday, after more than 10 years of playing for the Diamonds – and four of captaincy – brought an outpouring of emotion from current and former players, athletes from other sports and fans, who have all been touched by Geitz’s incredible contribution to Australian netball.
Geitz’s career marked with many ups and very few downs. She first stamped her authority on the team in the 2011 Netball World Championship final in Singapore. Playing a key role in the Diamonds’ come-from-behind victory, the young star was on the up. From there she tasted victory with the Queensland Firebirds, who notched their first premiership in 2011, and later followed it with back-to-back premierships in 2015 and 2016. Geitz also captained Australia to Commonwealth Games and World Cup victories in 2014 and 2015 respectively and led the team through one of their most successful periods in history.
So powerful was her influence on the sport that Geitz became New Zealand’s unofficial nemesis in 2013 (narrowly ahead of Quade Cooper) when a stray elbow to the back of Donna Wilkins in the Firebirds’ clash with the Central Pulse was dubbed “Geitz Gate” and led to calls for tougher sanctions in the game. Fortunately the media circus didn’t shake Geitz who, as Australia’s captain and goal keeper, was never expecting to be top of the Christmas card list in the land of the long white cloud.
What did shake things up however, was the announcement of her pregnancy following the conclusion of the 2016 season. After a frenetic extra-time victory against the NSW Swifts in the last ANZ Championship final, Geitz let flow rivers of tears and subsequently took a break from international duties. At last she revealed that she was expecting her first child and many thought this would mark the end of her time in netball.
Even Geitz herself wasn’t sure what the future would hold, but after watching her Queensland Firebirds teammates playing during the inaugural Super Netball season in 2017, her resolve hardened and she was determined to make her way back to the court. After signing with the Firebirds for 2018, Geitz was invited to a Diamonds training camp and consequently added to the squad for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
The roar of the crowd when Geitz took the court for the first time at the Games was deafening. Hers was a journey that the whole of Australia had been on – the first captain to come of age in a post-social media world. To the fans she’s not just a face on TV – she’s a friend, someone whose life they feel connected to. To witness her return to the court was a priceless experience.
The last word of course, must go to the coach who brought out the leader in this young netballer. When asked to reflect on Geitz’s legacy, Lisa Alexander is full of emotion.
“My mind drifts back to that magical day in Glasgow when the Diamonds broke the Commonwealth Games drought,” she says. “Laura’s face was uncontainable joy, her smile extended forever. I have enjoyed every moment of coaching Laura – she stepped up to every challenge and then some.
“A humble and beautiful person and brilliant leader of the Diamonds.”
