Maria Folau

Maria Folau
Playing for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in 2009
Personal information
Born Solonaima Maria Tuta'ia
(1987-02-18) 18 February 1987
Tokoroa, Waikato, New Zealand.
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
School Mount Albert Grammar School[1]
Blockhouse Bay Intermediate
Spouse Israel Folau
Married 27 November 2017
Relatives

Siliva Siliva (2nd cousin)

Faifili Levave (Wellington Hurricanes)
Netball career
Playing position(s): GA, GS
Years Club team(s) Apps
2005–07 Auckland Diamonds
2008–09 Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 31
2010–18 Northern Mystics 164
2019– Adelaide Thunderbirds
Years National team(s) Caps
2005–present  New Zealand 128
Medal record
Representing  New Zealand
Netball World Championships
2007 AucklandNetball
2011 SingaporeNetball
2015 SydneyNetball
Commonwealth Games
2006 MelbourneNetball
2010 DelhiNetball
2014 GlasgowNetball
World Netball Series
2009 ManchesterFastnet
2011 LiverpoolFastnet
Last updated: 14 April 2015

Solonaima Maria Folau (née Tuta'ia; born 18 February 1987 in Tokoroa, New Zealand) is a New Zealand international netball player.

Career

Folau played domestic netball for the Auckland Diamonds during the National Bank Cup from 2005–07. With the start of the ANZ Championship in 2008, she signed with the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, partnering Irene van Dyk in the shooting circle. She played with the Magic for two years, before transferring back to Auckland to play with the Northern Mystics, starting in 2010.[2] Folau stayed at the Mystics for over eight years, playing more than 160 times for the team. She was signed by the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Australian Super Netball league prior to the 2019 season.[3]

Folau was part of the winning New Zealand Under-21 team that brought home the 2005 World Youth Cup from Miami. That year, she was called into the Silver Ferns team, making her on-court debut when the Ferns toured Jamaica.[4] During her senior international career, she has won gold medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2009 World Netball Series, in addition to a silver medal at the 2007 Netball World Championships.[5][6]

In the 2010 ANZ Championship, Folau was the first and only player to be sent off during the match against the Swifts for persistent breaking. This send off happened in the last two minutes of the match and she took no further part in that match.

She is renowned for scoring the crucial goals, such as in the gold medal match against Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and during the 2011 ANZ Championship season when she scored the winning goal in the dying seconds against the Magic.

Personal life

Folau was born Solonaima Maria Tuta'ia in Auckland on 19 February 1987, the daughter of Fuisami Tuta'ia, a forestry worker, and his wife, Niukini, a homemaker.[7][8] She was named for her grandmothers, Solonaima and Malia, and she began using her middle name when she entered school as her teacher had difficulty pronouncing her first name.[8]

Folau is married to the Tongan Australian rugby player Israel Folau. The two wed in Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales on 15 November 2017, in a private outdoor ceremony.[9] She subsequently changed her last name from Tuta'ia to Folau.[10] In April 2018, after her husband, who opposed Same-sex marriage in Australia and replied to a comment on his Instagram post that God's plan is to send gay people to Hell unless they repent, Folau took to Instagram to voice her support for him.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "Maria Tutaia - Inducted on Honours Board". Kelston Girls’ College.
  2. ↑ Johannsen, Dana (11 August 2009). "Tutaia leaves Magic to be close to family". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  3. ↑ "Sharpshooter Maria Folau joins the Adelaide Thunderbirds in 2019". Adelaide Thunderbirds. 25 September 2018.
  4. ↑ ONESport (17 July 2006). "Profile: Maria Tutaia". TVNZ. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  5. ↑ "2011 Silver Ferns profile: Maria Tutaia". 13 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Richens, Matt (15 October 2010). "Silver Ferns reap Maria Tutaia's rewards". Waikato Times. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "Maria Tutaia: I don't need to be perfect". Now To Love. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  8. 1 2 "Maria Tutaia and her goals". E-Tangata - A Māori and Pasifika Sunday magazine. 2015-07-19. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  9. ↑ "Maria Tutaia and Israel Folau share pictures from their wedding". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  10. ↑ https://www.mynetball.co.nz/silver-ferns/team/squad.html
  11. ↑ "Ripples from Israel Folau 'gay' comments felt at Netball NZ". Newshub. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
  12. ↑ "Maria Folau chimes in on husband Israel's gay comments". Stuff.co.nz. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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