Lateesha Jeffrey: We’ve come a long way at Southern Districts Crocodiles, parents Russell and Kim always keep me grounded
INDIGENOUS SPORT MONTH FEATURE: It’s hard to believe Lateesha Jeffrey only first picked up a football at age 17. She’s reached some dizzy heights since then, but her family always brings her back down to earth.
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IT is hard to believe that Lateesha Jeffrey only first picked up a football at age 17.
She is still only 29 and has had an outstanding on-field career in a relatively short period of time.
“I started pretty late,” she told the NT News.
“I grew up in Nhulunbuy with all of my siblings, which was amazing.
“It was for only six years, but they were pretty important years for all of us.
“We all love our fishing and camping, and I had already played other sports before having a go at footy, including basketball and touch footy.”
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In her new home city of Darwin by the time she was 17, Jeffrey already had the foundations for an amazing career on the football field, despite being new to the sport.
She has played over 150 Premier League games from her time at Darwin Buffaloes, Palmerston and now Southern Districts.
She has co-captained the Crocodiles alongside Megan Craufurd for the past two seasons, and in 2019 she also had the distinction of leading the NT Thunder senior women’s team in the VFLW.
After a consistent season across 13 games that year, Jeffrey was named the ThunderW best clubwoman.
And Jeffrey climbed Territory football’s version of Mt Everest by captaining Districts to the 2019-20 NTFL flag against a star-studded Waratah side.
“It did (feel like climbing Mt Everest winning the Women’s Premier League flag that season),” Jeffrey said.
“It was three years in the making. When I first went to the Crocs, we lost our first game by 150 points.
“But we gradually got better. The season before we won the premiership we made the grand final and lost to Waratah.
“And from the pre-season (for the 2019-20 campaign) there was a real feeling we could win the competition, and our coach Tarmon Elliott made us believe that we could.
“It was a spontaneous move going to the Crocs four years ago, but I’ve loved my time there. “I’ve met so many great people at that club.”
There is also a chance Jeffrey could finish her career at Wanderers, where all her brothers and nieces have played.
It would just be a matter of when the timing is right in order to make that move.
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ALONG with coach Elliott, Jeffrey played a massive role in driving the sense that her teammates belonged on the biggest stage in Territory football.
And that is because she is a natural leader of women, using all her experience and knowledge to guide the Crocs to a breakthrough Women’s Premier League flag in the 2019-2020 season.
Jeffrey’s title is Assistant Director for the Aboriginal Educators Work Unit, with the Department of Education.
She manages the Assistant Teacher Project, developing capabilities of assistant teachers and aspiring teachers in remote NT locations.
Before that she was the Girls’ Academy Regional Manager for the NT and Kimberley Region, where she played a major role in positively developing the lives of teenage girls.
“I’m really passionate about helping young girls in my community and helping to provide good career pathways for them,” Jeffrey said.
“That’s because footy was a great vehicle which kept me on the right path.
“And there are so many good transferable skills you learn from footy which you can take to other things which you pursue in life.
“I helped out with the under-19 NT Thunder Academy girls before their game on Saturday.
“And it was amazing to see so many young players doing well in that game (an internal Thunder exhibition match which saw Team Baird take on Team Ponter).
“We had Janet Baird come back to play in this game and she made her Gold Coast Suns AFLW debut this year.
“Janet is a product of the Thunder program from club under-15 level all the way up to the senior Thunder team.
“And now she’s in the AFLW, which is pretty amazing for our young girls to aspire to be like her.”
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JEFFREY has had incredible family support, which has moulded her into the proud Indigenous woman and mother she is today.
“My dad Russell (a former St Kilda and Brisbane Bears player in the AFL, and a Chaney Medal winner with Wanderers and a Woolwonga man) and my mum Kim (a Kukatj woman) have instilled in me great values to always work hard to achieve my goals,” Jeffrey said.
“It’s hard to explain what my dad has done for my family, and we’re all so proud of him.
“He’s set such high standards for all of his six kids, and now grandchildren, to follow.
“And Mum has been huge for me. I would’ve achieved nothing if it wasn’t for her.
“Her and my daughter Kimara come to all my games, and my daughter goes through the banners with me for my milestone games.
“Everything I do is for my daughter.
“This sounds selfish to some people, but it’s still important for young female parents to continue following their dreams, even if they have a young family.
“And Mum has allowed me to do that.
“We’re a tight family – we always have everyone round for barbecues at my parents’ house in Humpty Doo.”
Jeffrey has been delighted to see younger brother Joel’s rapid progress in the Suns’ Academy system since he was picked up as a pre-draft selection late last year.
“We saw something in Joel from a young age – we saw how confident he was early on, but it wasn’t arrogance,” Jeffrey said of the 19-year-old former Wanderers star forward.
“It’s been amazing to see how far he’s come physically and mentally, after only being at the Suns five months.
“It’s great to see him fly up and take some speccies like he’s been doing (in the VFL).
“Whenever he’s back in Darwin we all like to get around him.”
Jeffrey wants to continue using everything she has learned from her parents in the coming years, and to do it with humility.
“I’m just happy to keep playing, and to keep doing the best I can,” she said.
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