Laura Geitz named fifth GC 2018 Ambassador

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced Ipswich-born netball champion Laura Geitz as the fifth official Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) Ambassador.

The Premier said Laura Geitz was the perfect choice to join GC2018’s ambassador team.

“I’m excited to announce Laura as a Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Official Ambassador, she is a proud Queenslander and the ideal person to promote the Games to Australia and the world,” Premier Palaszczuk said.

“Laura is a wonderful role model for young women and her sporting feats as a member of the Australian netball team have made her a household name.”

The netball world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medalist will join hurdles star Sally Pearson OAM, swimmer Cameron McEvoy, cycling queen Anna Meares OAM and Paralympian Kurt Fearnley OAM as a member of the GC2018 Ambassador family.

Laura’s first role as a GC2018 ambassador was a visit to Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital with the Premier, Commonwealth Games Minister Stirling Hinchliffe and GOLDOC CEO Mark Peters to deliver new Borobi plush toys to young patients. 

“Laura is a welcome addition to the GC2018 ambassador family and someone all Australian’s can identify with,” Minister Hinchliffe said.

“She will play an important role in sharing the GC2018 dream with athletes and sporting fans from around the world.”

The gold medal winning netballer said she was she was honoured to become a member of the GC2018 ambassador family.

“To be involved in GC2018 as an ambassador and to help tell the world about how amazing the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia is will be exciting. I can’t wait to welcome the Commonwealth’s best athletes to my home state in April 2018,” she said.

“It was an amazing feeling winning gold at Glasgow 2014, but to have a home Commonwealth Games in Queensland will be truly special, with friends and family in the stands cheering us on.

“The Commonwealth Games is the pinnacle for Australian netballers and the prospect of winning back-to-back gold medals is very exciting.”

To mark joining the GC2018 ambassador family, Ms Geitz was presented with a commemorative surfboard – an iconic keepsake of the Gold Coast lifestyle.

Laura Geitz Bio:

• Date of Birth: 4 November 1987
• Age: 29
• Hometown: Allora, Queensland
• Sport: Netball
• Coach: Lisa Alexander (Diamonds Head Coach)
• Spouse: Professional rugby player Mark Gilbride

Recognition and awards

• 2015 Netball World Championships – Gold
• 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games – Gold
• 2011 Netball World Championships – Gold 
• 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games – Silver

Fast facts

• Selected for the Australian national team in 2008
• Will be immortalised in a bronze statute outside the Brisbane Entertainment Centre
• Plays in the positions of Goal Keeper and Goal Defence
• Received the Liz Ellis Diamond Award in 2011 as the best player in Australian netball