New Zealand national netball team

Netball was introduced into New Zealand as "women's basketball" in 1906[3][4] or 1907,[5][6] and by 1924 the New Zealand Basketball Association was formed to administer the game on a national basis.[3] In 1938, the New Zealand Basketball Association sent the first New Zealand representative women's basketball team to tour Australia. The team's emblem and colours, a Silver Fern on a black uniform, had previously been decided in the same year that the association was founded. Margaret Matangi captained the first Silver Ferns team in their debut international test series,[7] played according to Australian seven-a-side rules (cf. nine-a-side in New Zealand). In their first international test, the Silver Ferns lost to Australia 40–11.[8] In 1948, ten years after the first tour and three years after the end of World War II, an Australian team toured New Zealand, winning all three test matches against the Silver Ferns, as well as all nine provincial matches; again, the games were played under Australian seven-a-side rules.[5] A team representing the New Zealand Minor Associations toured Fiji in 1954, at the invitation of the Fijian Basketball Association; the Fijians in turn sent a representative team to New Zealand in 1957.[5] New Zealand once again organised a team to tour Australia in 1960. The team was captained by June Waititi and also featured renowned defender Lois Muir.[9]

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.[5] The first Netball World Cup (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.[9] 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.[3] 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.[9]

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, and New Zealand became one of the last nations to adopt the name "netball".[3] 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.

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.[10] 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.[9] 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.[3] Another trans-Tasman Silver Ferns match in 2008 attracted a higher television audience than for a recent Bledisloe Cup–deciding rugby union match.[11]

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.[3] 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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14]

The Ferns claimed their first Quad Series title in September 2017.[15] Despite this, the team recorded losses to England, Jamaica and Australia in 2017 and 2018, a form slump which culminated in a fourth-place finish at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, marking the first time New Zealand had ever not won a medal in the history of the Games.[16] They then dropped to third in the INF World Rankings, falling outside the top two positions for the first time since the rankings began in 2008.[17] The sharp drop-off in form and results led to Janine Southby resigning as head coach on 20 July 2018.[18] She was replaced one month later by former national team player and current coach of the Sunshine Coast Lightning team in Australia, Noeline Taurua.[2] Captain Laura Langman, who became captain in 2018,[19] reached 146 national team caps in October that year, overtaking Irene van Dyk as the most capped player in New Zealand netball history.[20] The following year the Silver Ferns won the 2019 Netball World Cup in Liverpool, reversing their recent slump in form.[21]

The current roster was selected for the 2020 Netball Nations Cup.[28]

2019 Silver Ferns roster
Players	Coaches
Name Pos DOB Height Club Nat Caps Karin Burger WD, GD, GK 12 April 1993 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Central Pulse 15 Gina Crampton WA, C 7 December 1991 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) Southern Steel 36 Ameliaranne Ekenasio (c) GA, GS 11 January 1991 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Central Pulse 37 Phoenix Karaka GK, GD 6 November 1993 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Northern Mystics 26 Bailey Mes GS, GA, WA 27 May 1989 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Northern Mystics 69 Kimiora Poi C, WA 1 November 1997 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) Mainland Tactix 1 Shannon Saunders C, WA 12 December 1990 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) Southern Steel 70 Te Paea Selby-Rickit GA, GS 14 January 1992 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Mainland Tactix 42 Micaela Sokolich-Beatson GD, WD 2 October 1996 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) Northern Mystics 11 Whitney Souness WA, C 12 October 1995 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic 5 Jane Watson GK, GD 7 March 1990 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Mainland Tactix 41 Maia Wilson GS, GA 21 September 1997 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) Northern Stars 10	Head coach Noeline Taurua Assistant coach Yvonne Willering Jane Woodlands-Thompson Manager: Esther Molloy Notes (c) – Captain (cc) – Co-captain (vc) – Vice-captain – Injury / maternity leave (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player
Player profiles: Team website	Last updated: 23 May 2019

• Irene van Dyk: third-most capped Silver Fern, represented New Zealand for 14 years and 145 games
• Belinda Charteris, MNZM
• Jenny-May Coffin: current Sports News Presenter for TVNZ.
• Belinda Colling: double international, representing New Zealand in basketball and netball
• Vilimaina Davu: former Fijian national team coach
• Sandra Edge: captain 1994–95
• April Ieremia: former New Zealand television personality
• Bernice Mene, MNZM
• Lois Muir, DCNZM
• Lesley Rumball (née Nicol): formerly most capped Silver Ferns player
• Julie Seymour (née Dawson), MNZM: captain 2002, 08–09
• Anna Stanley (née Rowberry): captain 2003–2004 & current television commentator
• Waimarama Taumaunu, MBE
• Louisa Wall: double international (rugby and netball), Member of Parliament (2008, 2011–present)
• Donna Wilkins (née Loffhagen): double international, representing New Zealand in basketball and netball
• Adine Wilson (née Harper): captain 2005–07
• Casey Kopua (née Williams), ONZM: captain 2009–17