The Australian National Women’s Basketball Team (Opals) were in full training in their preparation camp in Adelaide just before the 1994 World Championships and the players were in a physical practice in their preparation for a tour to China. The smooth young guard with lightning reflexes and explosive athleticism was having a bad time with Coach Tom Maher. She was giving it her all, but whatever she did the Coach was not having a bar of and was in her face constantly. Whatever she did was not good enough! Her emotions were running high. “What do I have to do?” She thought. The coach then uttered words that would stay with the rookie Opals guard for the rest of her life. “Take that pumpkin off your head and put your head back on.” The tears welled up and the young guard headed for the change-room devastated.
Years later Annie La Fleur vividly remembers that experience not with regret but as a pivotal moment and turning point. She explains. “What a softy!!! It was either focus and pay attention or move on and do something else. You have to be mentally tough to play sport at a high level and Tom Maher helped me achieve that.”
Annie Lillian Burgess (La Fleur) was born November 3rd 1969 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
She started playing basketball at the age of fourteen for her school team St Mary’s Star of the Sea Hurstville. Netball was her sport until the school netball coach entered a basketball team into a local competition. Annie soon realised that in netball the players are restricted to an area and once she started basketball she realized she could pretty much do what she wanted and that was the end of netball for her.
Ken Orrock was her first basketball coach. He was one of the teachers at her school and also the netball coach. “Ken was as a big influence in my basketball career because he was the one who got me started in the sport. My mother was my biggest supporter. Although she didn’t know much about the game she came to every single game she could,” recalls Annie.
Annie’s first played at St. George Basketball Association.It was a small Division Two Association in Rockdale, Sydney. Sheplayed both U16’s and Division 1 Women’s. There was a little controversy when she came into the Division 1 Women’s Team as a fourteen year old but that soon ended, and some of those women who were concerned at the time are still friends with her to this day. She played at St George for a few years and then moved over to the Sydney Comets where she played U18’s, Youth League and Division 1 Women’s.
Despite her obvious abilities and quickness the diminutive 5 feet 6 inch guard was not selected for a NSW team until she was selected as an upper age player in the State Under 18 team to play in the 1986 Australian Championships in Brisbane.
In 1989 Annie experienced her first international basketball when she represented Australia in the Youth Women’s World Championships held in Bilbao, Spain. Annie and the Australian Women’s Youth Team (Gems) played in a tournament in Spain leading into the World Championships and then in the Championships themselves.
The Gems won the Bronze Medal at the World Youth Championships and played a very important part in furthering Australia’s growing reputation in women’s basketball as the medal was the first ever for Australian basketball at a world event.
Annie made the step to the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) and became an integral part of the newly formed Sydney Flames Club which won WNBL titles in 1993 and 1997. Annie played with the Flames from 1994 to 2001.
Annie’s dynamic play, quickness and brilliance impressed the National Selectors and she was selected on the Australian Women’s Team in 1993 for a series in Australia against the Ukraine National Team. Annie then played for the Australian Team against Athletes in Action (USA) and the year finished for her with a nine match tour to China with the Australian Team. Annie was quickly establishing her reputation as a player very comfortable at the senior international level in basketball.
In 1994 Annie played for the Australian Women’s Team (now called the Opals) in a series against Japan, followed by series against Russia and Bulgaria. Annie was selected to play for the Opals in the 1994 World Championships which were to be held in Australia. This was a wonderful opportunity for Annie and the team to play in front of their home town fans and their families.
Annie played for the Opals in the “Pre-OZ94 Games”, a tournament consisting of the Opals, Brazil, France, Canada and the USA, preceding the world championships.
The Opals played outstanding basketball in the World Championships Tournament and looked a good chance to win Australia’s first medal at a senior World or Olympic tournament. However it was not to be and the team finished a highly credible 4th.
Annie did not play for the Opals again until 1997 and missed the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Annie’s explosive athleticism, tenacity, leadership and skills were establishing her as an exceptional player. The “softy” as she called herself in those early Opal training sessions had toughened up and had made the big steps from District to International Basketball.
In 1997 Annie was selected to play for the Opals in a series against Russia in Australia and then she toured with the Opals to the USA for the US Invitational Tournament and to Brazil for the Golden Cup.
Her major personal goals were now to make the Opals team for the 1998 World Championships and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
After an Opals camp and training against Brazil in 1998 Annie played for the Opals in the Japan Women’s Invitation Tournament and was selected on the Opals Team for the1998 World Championships. The Opals played in the Grand Prix of Slovakia and in the Portugal Tournament before arriving in Germany for the 1998 Women’s World Championships. The Opals played great basketball and won the Bronze Medal. It was an outstanding effort and Annie cemented herself as a regular on the team. In 1998 she played for the Opals against the USA and China.
1999 was a major year for all the players on the Opals. It was in this year that each could make or break their ultimate selection for Sydney 2000. Annie played for the Opals against Cuba, then in the Olympic Cup, and the USA Invitational in 1999. In 1999 Annie played for the Minnesota Lynx in the world’s toughest Club competition, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the USA.
The Sydney 2000 Olympic Games loomed and Annie was determined that she would be selected. She desperately wanted to play at an Olympic Games and where better than at home in front of home fans and family?
In 2000 Annie played for the Opals against Russia, in the Olympic Test Event and against Canada before being named to the Opals Team for the Olympic Games. A quick tour for the Opals to France and Poland took place before coming back home where they played New Zealand. The Opalsthen played in the C7 Tournament and against the USA and Brazil leading into the Olympic Games.
In the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games the Opals did themselves and their country proud. They won all their matches through to the Final and won a Silver Medal in front of their adoring fans. Australia and the USA (Gold Medal) were clearly the best teams in the tournament. The 2000 Sydney Olympics were Annie’s only Olympics and they were savoured very much by her as she played in front of her family, old team-mates, coaches and friends. Though the pressure was enormous the occasion was worth it.
Annie recalls, “My most memorable moment from the 2000 Olympics was during the medal presentation ceremony when I looked into the stand in front of me and my son was jumping up and down on his chair yelling my name and my mum was crying. I won’t ever forget that feeling.”
After the 2000 Sydney Olympics Annie played with the WNBA team Washington Mystics in 2001-02-03 proving again that she was an elite player in one of the world’s most popular sports.
In 2001 she was a member of the Sydney Flames Club that won the WNBL Championship.
Sydney 2000 was not her last appearance for the Opals as she played three games in 2002 for the Opals against a touring Japanese National Team to finalise her Opals career.
Annie lived in the USA for five years working in the Athletic Department of a private school before moving back to Australia in 2008 to work in the financial sector.
Her association in basketballcontinued with her coaching of son Adrian in teams in the Woollahra school competitions and with the Sydney Comets in the Sydney competitions.
Annie La Fleur (nee Burgess) won a Bronze Medal at the World Youth Championships, a Bronze at a Women’s World Championships and a Silver Medal at an Olympic Games. She is a great example of perseverance, dedication and talent to achieve success at the highest levels in sport.