AS A young girl, Tessa Lavey idolised Australian runner Cathy Freeman, getting the 23-year-old into sport.
The Olympian began running to try become like Freeman before realising she wanted to do a team sport.
From there, she began playing basketball and the rest is history.
For Lavey, growing up in a world where female sport wasn’t ever considered professional, the Swan Hill WNBL player said she hoped girls would take the opportunity on offer in the new female sporting landscape.
“I think opportunity is really important for all young girls aspiring to go professional, and women’s sport has so many choices for girls now,” she said.
“As a kid, I played top age under 14s football and I loved it but I didn’t have the chance to take it further because there was no women’s football.
“It is exciting for young girls to have all sorts of role models across basketball, netball, aussie rules and cricket. If I was to talk to the girls coming through I would say take all the chances you can.” Lavey’s rise to the Australian women’s side wasn’t an easy road.”
For more on this story, check out Wednesday’s Guardian (February 8).
