Laura von Bertouch (born 4 December 1980) is a former Australia netball international. Bertouch was a member of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the

2007 World Netball Championships The 2007 World Netball Championships was the 12th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball co-ordinated by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). Sixteen nations contested th ...

. At club level, Bertouch played for

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pla ...

, mainly during the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

era. She captained Thunderbirds between 2004 and 2007. Her younger sister,

Natalie von Bertouch Natalie von Bertouch ( ; born 16 December 1982), also known as Natalie Bode, is a former Australia netball international. Between 2004 and 2012 she made 76 senior appearances for Australia. Bertouch was a member of the Australia teams that won ...

, is also a former netball player. The two sisters were team mates with both Thunderbirds and Australia.

Early life, family and education

von Bertouch is the daughter of Terry von Bertouch, who during the late 1960s and 1970s played Australian rules football for

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. History Surveyor-General Colonel William Light of the colo ...

and Norwood in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as t ...

. Her younger sister,

, is also a former Australia netball international. The Bertouch sisters were both educated at Immanuel College. Bertouch is married to the Australian rules footballer, James Gallagher.

Playing career

Contax

Bertouch and her sister,

, began playing netball aged seven and nine at the

Contax Netball Club Contax Netball Club are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Their senior team currently plays in the Netball South Australia Premier League. Between 1989 and 1996, Contax represented Netball South Australia in the Es ...

. In 2000, together with

Tracey Neville Tracey Anne Neville (born 21 January 1977) is a former England netball international and a former England head coach. As a player, she was a member of the England teams that won bronze medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 1999 Worl ...

, the Bertouch sisters were members of the Contax team that won the South Australia Farmers Union League.

Adelaide Thunderbirds

In 1998, Bertouch began playing for

. Together with

Kathryn Harby-Williams Kathryn Harby-Williams (born 16 July 1969) is an Australian netball player and television presenter. She captained the Australian netball team. Harby-Williams currently works with Radio Sport New Zealand and is a Sky TV commentator for Sky S ...

Jacqui Delaney Jacqui Delaney is a former Australia netball international. Between 1997 and 2002 she made 21 senior appearances for Australia. Delaney was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the 1999 World Netball Championships and th ...

, Peta Squire and Alex Hodge, she was a member of the Thunderbirds squad that won two

premierships in 1998 and 1999. In 2002 she became a regular member of the Thunderbirds starting seven, playing at wing attack, and forming a strong mid-court combination with her sister,

. She was subsequently named in the

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

for the 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons. She also captained Thunderbirds between 2004 and 2007. In November 2007 Bertouch announced she was retiring as a netball player. However, she returned to play for Thunderbirds in the

2009 ANZ Championship season The 2009 ANZ Championship season was the second season of the ANZ Championship. The 2009 season began on 4 April and concluded on 26 July. Melbourne Vixens were minor premiers. With a team co-captained by Bianca Chatfield and Sharelle McMahon, ...

Australia

Between 2006 and 2007 Bertouch made 18 senior appearances for Australia. She was first included in senior Australia squads in 2002 but a knee injury delayed her making a senior appearance until 2006. She eventually made her senior debut on 22 July 2006 against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Along with her sister,

, Bertouch was subsequently a member of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the

Honours

; Australia *

World Netball Championships The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by the World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and ...

**''Winners'': 2007 ;

**''Winners'': 1998, 1999 **''Runners Up'': 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006 *

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

**''Runners Up'': 2009 ; Contax * South Australia Farmers Union League **''Winners'': 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertouch, Laura 1980 births Living people Australian netball players Australia international netball players Netball players from South Australia Adelaide Thunderbirds players ANZ Championship players Commonwealth Bank Trophy players Australian people of German descent Sportspeople from Adelaide People educated at Immanuel College, Adelaide Contax Netball Club players South Australia state netball league players 2007 World Netball Championships players