New Zealand national netball team

New Zealand
Nickname(s) Silver Ferns
Association Netball New Zealand
Confederation Oceania Netball Federation
Head coach Janine Southby
Manager Esther Molloy
Captain Katrina Grant
Vice-captain Laura Langman
Most caps Irene Van Dyk (139)
INF ranking 2
Team colours
First international
Australia  40 – 11  New Zealand
Melbourne, 1938
World Championships
2015 placing 2nd
Best result 1st (1967, 1979, 1987, 2003)
Commonwealth Games
2014 placing 2nd
Best result 1st (2006, 2010)

The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern (Cyathea dealbata), which is an iconic emblem for many New Zealand sports teams.[1] The Silver Ferns were formed in 1938 as a representative New Zealand team to tour Australia. To date, they have been one of the most dominant national netball teams in the world, along with the Australian Diamonds, and have a winning record against most other netball nations. At the end of the 2011 international netball season, the Silver Ferns were ranked second in the IFNA World Rankings.[2]

The Silver Ferns compete annually for the Constellation Cup a home-and-away test series with Australia, and also play test matches with other major netball countries, including England and Jamaica, on a regular basis. They have competed at every World Netball Championship since its inauguration in 1963, and in every Commonwealth Games since netball's inclusion in 1998. The Silver Ferns have won the World Netball Championships four times (in 1967, 1979, 1987 and 2003). They also won the netball title at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and 2010.

The international game

By the time of the 1960 tour of Australia, netball-playing nations from around the world had met to draft the first international rules of netball, which featured seven-a-side teams.[3] The first Netball World Championships (then called the "World Tournament") took place in 1963 in Eastbourne, England. The New Zealand team travelled to the venue by boat, arriving after a voyage of six weeks.[4] The team were captained by Pam Edwards, with Muir as vice-captain. Australia defeated New Zealand 37–36 in a closely contested final to win the tournament.[5] The Silver Ferns would not play again for another four years, until the next World Championships in Perth. Captained by Judy Blair, New Zealand defeated Australia 43–40 to win the tournament.[4]

In 1970, New Zealand played a visiting Fiji team, before touring England and the Caribbean. Also that same year, the Silver Ferns uniform changed from a black tunic to a black skirt and white shirt.[5] New Zealand competed in the third World Championships in Jamaica the following year, again coming second behind Australia. The Silver Ferns toured England in 1974. One year later New Zealand hosted its first World Championships, where the host nation finished third behind Australia and England. Four years later at the 1979 Netball World Championships, the Silver Ferns finished 1st equal, tied with Australia and Trinidad and Tobago.

Regular competition

The 1980s saw the emergence of regular international competition for the Silver Ferns, as well as increasing television coverage of netball matches in New Zealand.[6] The Silver Ferns competed in two World Championships, in 1983 and 1987. The 1983 Championships were held in Singapore, where New Zealand were defeated in the finals by Australia; four years later, the Silver Ferns defeated Australia to win the 1987 Championships in Glasgow. Starting from 1985, the Silver Ferns have played international tests on an annual basis. In 1989, New Zealand achieved a historic clean-sweep test series win over Australia. It was also the year in which netball was included in the World Games, where New Zealand progressed undefeated to emerge as champions. The Silver Ferns subsequently won the New Zealand Sportsteam of the Year (team award) that year.[4] In the 1990s, the Silver Ferns contested three World Championships but did not manage to win any of them. The 1999 Championship final between Australia and New Zealand was the highest-ever rating programme for televisor TV2.[5] Another trans-Tasman Silver Ferns match in 2008 attracted a higher television audience than for a recent Bledisloe Cup–deciding rugby union match.[7]

Recent history

The Silver Ferns have had several successes in the 2000s. The Silver Ferns once again emerged as world champions after winning the 2003 World Championships in Jamaica. 2005 was a similarly successful year, in which they won all eight international tests, with comfortable series victories over England and Australia, capped off with a tri-series win over Jamaica and Barbados. That year they also posted their highest ever score against Australia, winning 61–36 in Auckland.[5] In 2006, New Zealand won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, but were defeated by Australia at the final of 2007 World Championships in Auckland the following year. In 2009, the first World Netball Series was contested in England, with the Silver Ferns defeating Jamaica in the grand final to win the inaugural tournament.[8] Success was repeated the following year at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, with New Zealand defeating Australia in a dramatic 66–64 double-overtime gold medal playoff win.[9] Described by The New Zealand Herald as "arguably the most incredible netball test ever", the game won the team the Lonsdale Cup of the New Zealand Olympic Committee in 2010 for the most outstanding contribution to an Olympic or Commonwealth sport.[10] The Silver Ferns are currently ranked second in the IFNA netball world rankings, which until 2008 were determined solely by the results of the World Championships.[2]

Competitive record

Netball World Cup
Year Championship Location Placing
1963 1st World Championships Eastbourne, England 2nd place
1967 2nd World Championships Perth, Australia 1st
1971 3rd World Championships Kingston, Jamaica 2nd place
1975 4th World Championships Auckland, New Zealand 3rd place
1979 5th World Championships Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago Joint 1st
1983 6th World Championships Singapore 2nd place
1987 7th World Championships Glasgow, Scotland 1st
1991 8th World Championships Sydney, Australia 2nd place
1995 9th World Championships Birmingham, England 3rd place
1999 10th World Championships Christchurch, New Zealand 2nd place
2003 11th World Championships Kingston, Jamaica 1st
2007 12th World Championships Auckland, New Zealand 2nd place
2011 13th World Championships Singapore 2nd place
2015 14th World Cup Sydney, Australia 2nd place
2019 15th World Cup Liverpool, England
Netball at the Commonwealth Games
Year Games Event Location Placing
1998 XVI Games 1st Netball Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2nd place
2002 XVII Games 2nd Netball Manchester, England 2nd place
2006 XVIII Games 3rd Netball Melbourne, Australia 1st
2010 XIX Games 4th Netball Delhi, India 1st
2014 XX Games 5th Netball Glasgow, Scotland 2nd place
2018 XXI Games 6th Netball Gold Coast, Australia
Netball at the World Games
Year Games Event Location Placing
1985 2nd World Games 1st Netball London, England 1st
1989 3rd World Games 2nd Netball Karlsruhe, Germany 1st
1993 4th World Games 3rd Netball The Hague, Netherlands 2nd place
Fast5 World Netball Series (formerly Fastnet)
Year Tournament Location Placing
2009 1st World Series Manchester, England 1st
2010 2nd World Series Liverpool, England 1st
2011 3rd World Series Liverpool, England 2nd
2012 4th World Series Auckland, New Zealand 1st
2013 5th World Series Auckland, New Zealand 1st
2014 6th World Series Auckland, New Zealand 1st
2016 7th World Series Melbourne, Australia 1st

Players

2016 Silver Ferns Netball Squad

Name Positions 2016 ANZ Championship team
Gina Crampton WA, C Southern Steel
Kayla Cullen GD, WD, C Northern Mystics
Leana de Bruin GD, GK Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic
Shannon Francois C, WA Southern Steel
Katrina Grant GD, GK Central Pulse
Anna Harrison GK, GD, WD Northern Mystics
Laura Langman (Vice Capt.) C, WD, WA New South Wales Swifts
Bailey Mes GS, GA, WA Mainland Tactix
Jess Moulds GK, GD Mainland Tactix
Storm Purvis GK, GD Southern Steel
Grace Rasmussen WA, C, GA Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic
Cathrine Tuivaiti GS, GA Northern Mystics
Maria Tutaia GA, GS Northern Mystics
Ameliaranne Ekenasio GS, GA Central Pulse

Note: Casey Kopua (Capt.) on Maternity Leave

Notable past players

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wilson, John (23 September 2007). "Government and nation – Wearing the silver fern". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
  2. 1 2 "Current World rankings". International Federation of Netball Associations. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Coatsworth, Leona Mary (18 September 2007). "Basketball, Women's Outdoor". An Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966 (A. H. McLintock, ed.). Retrieved 12 September 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 "Silver Ferns History". Netball New Zealand. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "History". Netball New Zealand. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  6. ↑ Johannsen, Dana (19 September 2008). "Netball's long road to equality". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  7. ↑ "Silver Ferns out rate All Blacks". tvnz.co.nz. 18 September 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
  8. ↑ NZPA (12 October 2009). "Silver Ferns win World Series". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  9. ↑ Leggat, David; Cleaver, Dylan (15 October 2010). "Golden Ferns win thriller against Oz". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Netball: Silver Ferns recognised by NZOC". The New Zealand Herald. NZPA. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
Awards
Preceded by
Mahé Drysdale		 Lonsdale Cup of the New Zealand Olympic Committee
2010 		Succeeded by
Valerie Adams
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