Tracey Bruce was born to coach.
In a case of nature versus nature, her ability to guide athletes to be better appears to be seemingly innate but the apple never falls far from the tree.
“I’ve grown up around coaching all my life because my dad, Mick Foran, coached,” Bruce said.
“He coached Easts Rugby League, all the grades, so I used to sit and watch his games. I was brought up around sport, so in the summer we did surf lifesaving and in winter we played netball. If rugby league would’ve been an option, I would’ve played it.”
Her foray into netball as a seven-year-old playing for Oxley Rockets at Western Districts Netball Association wasn’t without some confusion over code rules.
“They made me a dress, lying about my age,” Bruce said.
“I said I didn’t want to play and that I’d see them next year. The next year I wore that dress and I was as happy as anything, before I tackled and got sent off. I had an older brother and we used to pack scrums into the kitchen table. They sat me off for a goal and said, ‘you can’t tackle in this game’. I didn’t like it, and the only person who was proud was my dad.”
Something about the game must have struck a chord though, as Bruce became one of those few unicorn players of her time to smoothly transition up the Netball Queensland player pathways from schoolgirls level to AIS representation, and close to a decade on the Queensland Open team.
A twilight season in Queensland Firebirds colours followed, which was 12 months of juggling netball with life as a mother of two young children.
“I liked intercepting by having strong hands-over,” Bruce said.
“I had speed and a good vertical jump but I liked being hands-over and intercepting the ball as it came out of the person’s hand. That was my ‘thing’. I used to stare into the opposition’s eyes and see when their pupils moved. I always looked where the WA was set up - and just stared at their faces and read off their pupils.”
Rising to the top as a feisty midcourter, Bruce never forgot her roots nor the people who supported her ongoing success and to this day, freely gives her time and knowledge consulting to those in need, from rookie to elite levels, across Queensland.
When not heading up the netball and water pool programs at St Peter’s Indooroopilly, she can be spotted driving from team to team with a brain full of unorthodox drills and a car boot bursting with training equipment
“I like coaching in the development space, taking the really raw kid and developing them,” she said.
“Talent is not always obvious, but there’s just something there. I’ll be watching a game and see a kid do a huge vertical jump or land on the circle edge and think, other kids can’t do that. They’ve just got an edge.”
In an indication of Bruce’s popularity and impact, Rangers Netball Club established a bursary fund in her name to support young netballers in financial need.
"You’ve got to care about your athletes,” she said.
“You’ve got to keep them challenged. So many other sports are pulling at them, we’ve got to be a little bit flexible and better all the time to try to keep them.”
Bruce’s care-factor is immense which is why, among many reasons, she’s a fitting candidate for the Queensland Firebirds Mentor Program launching this year.
Firebirds coach Bec Bulley has outlined the program’s wide range of foreseeable benefits.
“The Firebirds Mentor Program will provide our athletes a safe space where there can be compassion, openness and challenge which is a great approach in supporting our athletes on the pathway which in turn will provide the Firebirds team a competitive advantage,” Bulley said.
“The vision is that the Firebirds Mentor Program will help our current players to become strong and resilient women and leaders within the team but also to create a strong connection of Former Firebirds back to the club."
“It’s really important to get the old girls back into the club,” Bruce said.
“I think more of the past players will come back and it’ll build club spirit, and it’s so good for the girls to have someone they can go to.”
The Firebirds 2024 Suncorp Super Netball season opens with a round one clash against the Adelaide Thunderbirds at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday, April 13.
All Firebirds home games for the 2024 season are now on sale via Ticketek.
