Have A Go Olympic Challenge 2024

HAVE A GO AT OLYMPIC SPORTS

FIND YOUR SPORT
Background image

Going Further: Tracey Freeman - A leader in our national defence force

 

Going Further: Tracey Freeman - A leader in our national defence force

Author image
AOC
Tracey Freeman

A dual Olympic medallist softballer driven by a purpose to serve.

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

That was the question dual Olympic medallist softballer Tracey Freeman (nee Mosley) was asked by family and friends when she first revealed her plans for a career in the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Having just returned from three years of university in the United States, most thought the Queensland-born and South Australian-raised athlete would pursue a career in her chosen tertiary degree of teaching.

But for Tracey, a silver medallist in Athens and bronze medallist in Beijing, the opportunity to be part of a team representing her country lured her into the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

To her mum, Marlyn, the thought of her sports-mad daughter entering the highly disciplined world of the military seemed a little foreign at first, but there is no question Tarcey has proven herself to be equally worthy on the battlefield and softball diamond.

“I always had a desire to join either the police or the military,” Tracey said.

“When I applied to the ADF, I wanted to join the Navy, but was told it would be no good hitting a softball on a ship, so I went for the Air Force instead.

“When it came to me joining the Air Force, people were laughing because of the uniform, discipline, strict stuff like that – they didn’t think it was for me!

“School was about friends and sport; schoolwork and the uniform were never my priority, so the thought of shining boots, brass and ironing uniforms was pretty far-fetched.

“But what I learned from softball relates back to my job now. I love being deployed as part of a team. We do all the training leading up to our departure, go away and spend time together working to achieve a common goal.

“It's the same with softball. You do all the training, and you play your games together; it’s the comradeship that I love most.”

Today Tracey works in communication for the RAAF, holding the rank of Flight Sergeant and leading a team of 20 as a network technician.

She has been deployed on three occasions to the Middle East, returning only recently from a posting with the US led Combined Air Operations Centre. Her role was to maintain the Australian information communications technology for the conduct of the operation.

Working on the base during the Tokyo Games, Tracey said there was great interest in the Olympic softball event due to her sporting legacy and much banter between the Aussies and Americans – both long-time rivals in international competition.

“I tried to watch as much of the softball as I could, but being on an American base, we didn’t have control of the TV and we had the US broadcast which focused on track, gymnastics and sports like that,” she said.

“But they found out that I'd played softball at the Olympics so there was a lot of banter in the dining hall, especially when Australia played the US.

“I’ve followed the team on their journey to Tokyo. Our unit sent a video of support over from the Middle East and I’ve been in touch with a number of girls during their preparation.

“I was so proud of the team, they did so well. Considering the lack of international games and preparation because of COVID, I thought they did exceptionally well.

“It was really important for all of them to play in Tokyo because the sport is not included on the program for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.”

Looking back on her ADF career, Tracey said she was hooked from the moment she entered recruitment training at RAAF base Edinburgh in Adelaide. Motivated by the opportunity to learn and work collaboratively with others, she did her specialist training in communication at the Wagga base in NSW.

She is now stationed at RAAF base Amberley in Brisbane where she lives with wife Candice, also a former West Australian softballer, and six-year-old son Wylie.

“I really enjoyed the recruit training for the Air Force, especially the physical aspect of it,” she said.

“I didn't so much enjoy the lack of sleep. You were up super early every day to get things prepared, uniforms ready, polishing boots, studying. But I love the learning, interacting with and meeting new people.

“In my role now, I’m constantly planning, mentoring and developing new members. I’m driven by a purpose to serve. That is what the Air Force is about; it’s an opportunity to again represent my country.

“I love my job and am so grateful to the RAAF for their support of my softball. I would not have been able to achieve what I did without them.”

A member of the Softball Australia Hall of Fame and veteran of 288 international matches, Tracey began her sporting career at the age of 10 playing for Brisbane’s Wynnum West State School.

When her family moved to Adelaide for her late father Ken’s job, she was adamant all she wanted to do was play softball and took up the position of catcher and short stop at Reynella East School.

“The first time I played, I just loved it,” she said.

“I ended up playing in Adelaide and loved the competition, going away to play in country towns, being billeted out with families – as a kid it was the most awesome time.

“I loved it from the time the teams were announced. We’d then go through a journey together. We do the learning together. We do the training, preparation and then go and execute.

“The joy of doing it side-by-side with people who've been on that same journey is quite phenomenal.”

A natural at the game, Tracey was scouted by US college Oklahoma City in 1992 and embarked on a three-year journey training and competing against some of the world’s most promising players.

Her team would travel, by bus, around the US playing four matches a week; an opportunity which not only honed her skills but brought with it worldly experiences and many fond memories.

“We didn't have the funding for flights, so our coach drove the bus to a lot of the tournaments – some were six or seven hours away.

“I got to see some of the countryside that I probably would never have seen … no one really goes on holiday to Oklahoma or Kansas. It was a completely different way of life to what I'd experienced in Australia, it was an amazing experience.

“Our team had a few Australians and a number of Canadians in it. It was an excellent opportunity to learn in a global environment. After I left the school, they ended up recruiting some Chinese players as well.”

Tracey is adamant sport, the Olympic moments and the coaches who guided her softball career have had the most significant impact on her leadership position in the Air Force.

She cites a conversation she had with NSW softball stalwart Barry Blanchard as a major turning point in her career.

After being included as a shadow player for the 1996 Atlanta Games and missing the Sydney 2000 team, it was the now 86-year-old veteran’s candid advice that shifted her approach to high performance.

“I’d always been picked in the teams, I was young, cocky and my attitude was wrong,” Tracey remembered.

“I was questioning what do I have to do to make the team? Barry pretty much told me exactly how it was straight to my face. He told me, ‘you've got the skills to be in there, but your attitude is nowhere near good enough and your work ethics is nowhere good enough.'

“As a result I got my act together. Started training, doing the right thing, getting back into the gym and sending my training programs to the national coach.

“When it came to the nationals, I had a pretty good tournament and was picked in the squad again, and pretty much stayed in from then.

“I have a ton of respect for Barry. I needed to mature. I was a young kid who took things for granted and probably just expected things to come to me. I’m so grateful he gave me the kick up the butt I needed.”

It was a lesson that has stayed with her.

Tracey said she’s had similar conversations with her charges in the Air Force – and calls upon the same approach to motivate behavioural change.

“I try to be exactly how Barry was with me: honest, upfront, but encouraging,” she said.

“Sport has the ability to help people and have a great impact on who we are. Softball has shaped the leader, the manager and mentor I am today within the defence force.”

For Tracey, it’s not so much the victories or the medals which mattered most in her career, but the way the Aussie performed on the international stage.

“The silver medal in Athens was phenomenal,” she said.

“We were such a close-knit team. Everyone was there for the betterment of the team, and everyone was there for each other. We built a good culture.

“As for Beijing, I just remember this epic game against Japan. The winner went on to play, the US in the gold medal game and the game went 17 innings.

“We get in front of Japan, and they’d come back, we get in front of Japan, and they’d come back again.

“Kerry Wyborn took this catch that’s just ridiculous and then steps up and hits the ball over the fence.

“It's just the fight and the character we saw from both teams.

“Unfortunately, we lost but it's just one of the most memorable games of softball that I've been a part of and witnessed.”

As she looks to the future, not only in leadership with the RAAF, but Tracey is advocating for the inclusion of her much-loved sport softball on the Brisbane 2032 program.

The sport was included as a demonstration sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and included as a medal sport at the next four Games – with Australia finishing on the podium at all of these.

Softball was dropped for the London and Rio Games, but returned for the postponed Tokyo Games where the team finished fifth. No decision has yet been made about its inclusion at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Softball has thousands of participants nationally and with one silver and three bronze medals from five Olympic outings, Tracey hopes the sport will feature on the Brisbane program.

“It would be phenomenal to have softball at the Brisbane Olympics,” she said.

“Everyone still talks about how amazing the Sydney Games were. Queensland has long been one of the most dominant softball states.

“For the young kids coming up to have that carrot dangled in front of them to play in front of their friends, their family, would be out of this world.

“It would be absolutely awesome for the sport and it'd keep those younger kids involved and give them something to aspire too.

“Every game would be sold out, there is always such an incredible atmosphere – and as a team sport it would provide so many opportunities for young people and have such an impact on their lives.”

Catriona Dixon


Everyday Tracey Freeman, Sam Fricker and Taniele Gofers live by the motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger - together. They are building their profiles beyond the sporting arena into some of the most impactful pursuits on the planet.

They are three Olympians with three very different life trajectories, but one thing links them together, the Olympic spirit.

As athletes they inspired many by wearing the green and gold on the biggest stage on Earth, the Olympic Games, and now they are taking others on the journey with them as they continue to lead intelligence and passion.

First and foremost they are athletes, they are Olympians, but much like their athletics achievements they continue to strive to do better - to achieve beyond what most think is possible.

MORE ON BASEBALL/SOFTBALL
MORE ON SOFTBALL
Top Stories