Laura Geitz facts for kids
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Geitz in 2016
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Laura Nicole Geitz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 November 1987 Ipswich, Australia |
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| Height | 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | The Scots PGC College | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Queensland University of Technology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Mark Gilbride | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netball career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position(s): GK, GD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Club team(s) | Apps | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2018 | Queensland Firebirds | 169 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | National team(s) | Caps | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2018 | Australia | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| Last updated: 16 April 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Laura Geitz, born on November 4, 1987, is a famous Australian netball player. She used to be the captain of the Australian national team. Laura joined the national team in 2008.
She won a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She also earned gold medals at the 2011 World Netball Championships and the 2014 Commonwealth Games. As a club player, Laura played for the Queensland Firebirds in the ANZ Championship. Before that, she was captain of the AIS Canberra Darters.
Contents
About Laura's Life
Laura Geitz grew up in a town called Allora, Queensland. This town is in the Darling Downs area of Australia. Laura became a mother on February 25, 2017, when her son was born.
Laura's Netball Journey
Winning with the Firebirds
In 2011, Laura Geitz was a key player for the Queensland Firebirds. Her team had an amazing year, winning the ANZ Championship without losing a single game. This was a huge achievement in netball.
Playing for Australia
Laura was also part of the Australian national team, known as the Diamonds. She played in the 2011 Netball World Championships held in Singapore. In a tough game against New Zealand, Laura came on as Goal Keeper in the second half. Her strong play helped the Diamonds come back from being six goals behind. They won the match by just one goal in overtime.
Leading the Team
Laura was honored with the Liz Ellis Diamond award in 2011. This award goes to Australia's best netballer. She played 32 international games for Australia.
In 2013, Laura became the captain of the Australian team for the first time. She led them to win the 2013 Constellation Cup against New Zealand. This was a big moment for her leadership.
Commonwealth Games Gold
In 2014, Laura Geitz was named captain of the Australian Netball Team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Under her leadership, the team beat the New Zealand National Netball Team in the final. This victory ended Australia's 12-year wait for a netball gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
More Championships
In 2015, Laura also captained the Queensland Firebirds to another championship win. They defeated the New South Wales Swifts to secure the ANZ Championship title that season.
Retirement from Netball
Laura continued to play for the Firebirds in the new Suncorp Super Netball league for two seasons. In July 2018, she announced she was retiring from playing for Australia. She had played 71 games for her country. Later that year, Laura also retired from club netball. She finished her career with 169 club games. She also won two Player of the Year awards in the old ANZ Championship (in 2011 and 2014).
Special Honours
Bronze Statue Unveiled
In May 2017, a bronze statue of Laura Geitz was revealed. The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, officially unveiled it at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. The sculptor, Liam Hardy, spent 700 hours creating the statue. It shows Laura on her tiptoes, reaching out her arm to touch a netball.
Statue in Hometown
In 2020, it was announced that a smaller, 4-foot tall statue would be placed in her hometown of Allora. This statuette is a copy of the larger bronze one. However, before it could be officially shown at Allora's sports museum, it was damaged. The ball that Laura was shown touching was taken from the statue.
