rethink role models

Australian Diamonds’ Laura Geitz is a woman in charge. But making the transition from country Queensland kid to captain of the national netball team wasn’t without its challenges. Here, she shares her story

Iwas born and raised in a small town called Allora in Queensland on a 1500-acre property. It’s not until now that I realise how lucky I was to grow up in the country. The wide open spaces are an endless playground. My big sister Carla and I would get home from school and grab our push bikes and ride around for hours.

I was a late bloomer to netball at 13 years. Mum had bought Carla a pair of expensive trainers, which was a big deal as we never had the latest and greatest sporting equipment. I remember seeing these shoes on the kitchen table and thinking, I’m going to play netball so that I can get a pair. I was particularly tall, towering above other girls my age and in my very first game, I fell in love.

Cathy Freeman was an inspiration. After watching her win gold at the Sydney Olympics I knew I wanted to do something great for my country. At school, I used to get on a bus for two hours every Saturday morning and play games against all the private schools in Brisbane. One day, I saw a poster of the Queensland Firebirds outside the school tuck shop and I thought, I want to do that one day, wear that dress. I told my mum I was going to play for my state and country and she said “…That’s wonderful but maybe it would be good to have some other goals along the way?” In the whole eight years I’ve played for Queensland I think Mum has only missed two or three games.

Family has always been my priority and my father was my most significant role model. I admired his work ethic, being a farmer, and how hard he used to apply himself, even against difficult odds. He treated everyone who needed help with respect and had an incredible ability to lift people. Dad passed away in 2013. There is no right or wrong way to deal with it, but he taught me that when you get knocked down, you get back up. Dad would have wanted me to get back out onto the court — his mo o was do your best, forget the rest.

Now, I base my leadership style off him. His ability to want more from himself every time and the way he made everyone feel valued. I thought when I was crowned captain I had to change everything but I was benched in my first game. My coach told me that I’d been put in the role because people trusted me and they believed in me so there was no need to pretend to be anyone different.

Leadership is interesting — you never get your head around it and never stop learning. You garner a lot from many different people by si ing back and observing. Sharelle Mcmahon was my first captain in the Australian team. She is an exceptional leader and showed me that leadership is about bringing all kinds of people together and ge ing them moving in the one direction.

I was sent a quote after leading the Diamonds to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, “great leadership is shown in the behaviour of your followers”. I believe being an effective leader and role model means creating genuine relationships, whether it’s your team mates or CEO. I see my job here as helping young girls realise their strengths and be happy. Being a role model can be a journey and not necessarily confined to those in a position of leadership, anyone can set an example!

If you saw me in my early days, I was all arms and legs and not much else. But I worked hard. The example my parents set kept me level-headed, when you see drought and tough times you develop a certain amount of resilience. I see myself helping uncover the hidden netball talent amongst country kids in the future. I feel strongly about giving them opportunities and showing what is possible. For now, there’s no other feeling like walking out on the court for a big game — the energy, the excitement, the nerves. The bigger the challenge, the best it brings out in you.

Laura is part of Samsung’s Rethink Role Models campaign. She will be one of our panel of smart, successful, inspiring women for a morning of idea-sparking discussion, shared experiences and useful advice at our #Elleinspires We Are Women event on November 19. To find out more, visit elle.com.au/culture/we-are-women/