A dietician by profession, and equipped with a huge fitness base, Nat is considered one of the best centre court players in the modern era. She is a skilled and natural leader.
It all started with throwing the netball around for hours with her older sister Laura on the family’s tennis court, and then when Dad came home, demanding he join them too.
“I think Laura pegging the ball at my head made me learn to catch,” Nat recalls.
Dad is Terry von Bertouch, an SANFL Hall of Famer, so the genes were likely to be responsible for both sisters playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds by the time Nat was 18 – and by 2004, both sisters were playing for the Australian Diamonds.
A dietician by profession, and equipped with a huge fitness base, Nat is considered one of the best centre court players in the modern era. She is a skilled and natural leader.
Four years after debuting, she was elevated to be the Diamonds’ vice-captaincy, and in 2011 took over the captaincy when Sharelle McMahon was injured and led Australia to the 2011 World Cup triumph over NZ.
The final was a fiercely heart thumping event. Australia and NZ were tied at the end of regular time. In a strained, exhausting, and unyielding 14 minutes of extra time, Australia finally made the winning goal in the dying seconds – defeating NZ 58–57 to claim their tenth title.
Nat was the inaugural captain of the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the ANZ Championship and held that position for six years, leading the team to titles in 2010 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre over Waikato Bay Plenty Magic in front of 9,300 fans – and again in 2013, this time beating the Queensland Firebirds 50-48 in a thrilling final.
She was voted as the ANZ Championship Player of the Year in 2009.
Speaking at a Young Leaders Conference while captaining Australia, Nat discussed the importance of putting team first over individual aspirations, giving the example of asking the coaches to not select her to the team during a phase when she knew her form wasn’t at the required level.
It’s a wonderful insight into quality, intelligent, honest leadership.
It is part of a picture of the fine leader Nat Von Bertouch was and is.
