This article was originally published in print in the Swan Hill Guardian on August 13, 2021. This story can be viewed online here.
BEHIND every Olympian, there is an incredible support network.
Whilst unable to travel to Tokyo with Tessa, the Lavey family were still right behind her, watching her play basketball from the comfort of their Lake Boga farm.
When you enter the living room of the Lavey household there is a sea of yellow and green basketball singlets and jackets, and memorabilia.
Tessa’s mother, Annette, said having a daughter who was an Olympian was unbelievable.
“We’re just country people,” she said.
“We’re both (Annette and her husband/Tessa’s dad, Geoff Lavey) just ‘ordinary’ people – I’m a nurse, and Geoff’s a shearer.
“We’ve got a beautiful family, but we’ve got this daughter, who for whatever reason that is outstanding and gifted with her physical skills and sportsmanship.”
Annette said it was hard to put into words how proud of Tessa they were.
“Especially being a country kid, things weren’t at our fingertips,” Annette said.
“She doesn’t have a mum or dad that is an elite sportsperson for her to bounce things off from or learn from.”
Tessa, 28, was part of the Australia women’s national basketball team the Opals, in Tokyo, and debuted her Olympic Games career in Rio 2016.
Annette accompanied Tessa to Rio.
“It was a magnificent experience and just the environment with all the other teams and barracking and supporting, you got to know other family members,” Annette said.
But Annette said having to watch from home this year was surreal.
“In a sense, it’s a bit hard to feel involved,” she said.
“You sort of feel like you’re a long way away.
“It wasn’t that same feeling of celebrating and the camaraderie when you’re part of a big family of Aussie people (watching together at the Olympics).”
Annette also traveled to Toulouse in France with Tessa in 2010, when Tessa was part of the Australian team for the Under-17s World Championships.
And it’s these sporting opportunities that have given Annette the chance to travel the globe.
“If it wasn’t for Tessa’s basketball playing, I would never have traveled overseas otherwise,” she said.
The family have also traveled around Australia, supporting Tessa with her sporting opportunities.
Growing up, Tessa sporting abilities didn’t just stop at basketball: she has represented Victoria in cross country running, winning gold, silver and bronze medals in Buderim in Queensland when she was 10.
If training for the Olympics wasn’t enough, Tessa was selected to play for the Richmond Tigers AFLW team in the 2020 NAB AFL Women’s Draft.
She debuted her AFLW career in February this year.
“Richmond was always going to be the team she wanted to play for,” Annette said.
Annette said her daughter’s interest in joining the AFLW came from fellow Rio Opals teammate and AFLW’s Adelaide Crows player Erin Phillips.
“Tessa has a deep passion and natural talent for playing football,” Annette said.
“She has a very unique ability to run long distance, but she’s quick as well.
“She’s very fast, but she’s got the endurance and speed to get there, which is not a common thing for an athlete to have – you’re either endurance or sprint.”
Annette said another reason Tessa transitioned into the AFLW, was the sudden passing of her brother, Tim Miller, in a car accident last year.
“That made her revisit what she wanted to focus on – she felt she needed to get things done,” Annette said.
“Tim was a diehard Richmond supporter and he was diehard Tessa supporter, he just believed in her to no end.
“He went to France to watch her play and he was definitely going to Tokyo, had he been here.
“He would have found a way to get there.”
Football runs in the Lavey family, with Tessa’s grandfather, John (Jack) Vincent Lavey, being the first coach of Lalbert after he fought in the Second World War. Unfortunately Jack passed away during Tessa’s basketball medal campaign at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Tessa’s father, Geoff, and brother, Daniel, have also both played for the Mallee Eagles Football Club, and Tessa’s brother, Nick, has been described as sporty.
Daniel said growing up alongside Tessa, he never felt like any of their siblings missed out on any-hing.
“Mum and Dad always provided us with any opportunity that we wanted to take on, which Tessa was always an overachiever,” he said.
“There was nothing out of reach that Mum and Dad offered for us as kids.
“I’m here, I’ve got a lovely wife and a beautiful baby.”
Daniel said that Tessa’s success shows that for kids in the bush, when opportunities arise, it’s best to take them and anything can be achieved with a supportive network.
Tessa is the youngest child in the family, and only daughter.
“The boys were accepting of it and we’re very proud of her – that’s our sister,” Daniel said.
Lillian Altman 