Lightning strikes twice: Maddy Freer is following in her mother’s footsteps

Maddy Freer is the Adelaide Lightning’s newest signing, and she’ll be donning the same number her mother Deb wore for the Lightning.

Photo credit: NBL1 Central

We all stand on the shoulder of giants, and it’s no different for the WNBL, with its rich history as Australia's longest-running elite women's sporting competition. Every WNBL player steps on the court, following in the footsteps of those who paved the way; those who fought tooth and nail in the early days to get the league up and running, and all those players since that have left their mark on the league.

Yesterday was a historical one for the Adelaide Lightning, as the announcement of Maddy Freer’s signing for the upcoming season will see her suit up for Adelaide, just as her mother Deb Freer (née Copley) did in earlier times for the Lightning during the mid-1990s. Adelaide fans would remember her best as Deb Giles, a member of the three-peat Championship-winning squads from 1994-96.

The pair will become the first mother-daughter duo to have both played for the Lightning.