Anna Catherine Stanley (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Rowberry, born 31 March 1976 in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

er, who captained the national team (the

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns ( or ), represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Taini Jamison Trophy, the Constell ...

), to win the 2003 Netball World Championships in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. She led the

to a drought-breaking series win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(the first since 1989) in the winter of 2004, and played for the Auckland Diamonds in the

National Bank Cup The National Bank Cup, originally known as the Coca-Cola Cup, was the top level national Netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball league between 1998 in New Zealand, 1998 and 2007 in New Zealand, 2007. The league was organised by Netball Ne ...

national league in 2004 and 2005.

Early life

The daughter of a former New Zealand player, Stanley had not played senior provincial netball when she was sent to her international debut against Jamaica in 1994. Her career dipped to its lowest point when sidelined by selectors for 18 months, but she was recalled in 2002. Stanley is renowned in netball circles as an outstanding athlete and for her speed through court and trademark bullet pass.

Career

Stanley represented Otago, Canterbury and Auckland in New Zealand's top netball league. In 2004, she suffered a knee injury during the Silver Ferns' clean sweep series win over arch-rivals Australia. In 2005, after several months of rehabilitation, she returned to the court for the Auckland Diamonds. She returned to the Silver Ferns in October of that year, and was a member of the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

gold medal-winning team of March 2006. Only a few weeks into the 2006 National Bank Cup season, she announced that she was pregnant and would be retiring from netball to concentrate on her family life, thus ending a fluctuating but successful career on the court. Stanley was named in the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic squad in New Zealand's top netball league in 2007, however she did not play this season for the team in the league. Instead Stanley devoted time to motherhood, and in 2007 became an Ambassador for Rett New Zealand, an organisation to assist children and their families that suffer from

Rett syndrome Rett syndrome (RTT) is a genetic disorder that typically becomes apparent after 6–18 months of age and almost exclusively in girls. Symptoms include impairments in language and coordination, and repetitive movements. Those affected often h ...

. In 2008 with the start of the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

, Stanley has been a television presenter and netball commentator with Sky Sports. She also co-hosts the weekly netball magazine style show ''On Court'' with

Kathryn Harby-Williams Kathryn Harby-Williams (born 16 July 1969) is an Australian netball player and television presenter, who captained the Australian netball team. She is the Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Treasurer of the Australian Netball Players’ As ...

and Tania Dalton. She finished her international career with 91 caps.

Personal life

Stanley is married to medical surgeon and former Auckland and

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player,

Jeremy Stanley Jeremy Crispian Stanley (born 26 March 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He was born in Ōtāhuhu, New Zealand. He played for the All Blacks, Ponsonby and Auckland and the Hurricanes as a centre. Personal life Stanley attend ...

. They have a daughter, Jaya and a son, Nico and on 20 January 2011, eight days after their baby's due date, they became parents to Zac, who weighed in at . While pregnant with their first child, Jaya, Stanley and her husband relocated from her

Mount Maunganui Mount Maunganui (, ) is a major residential, commercial and industrial suburb of Tauranga located on a peninsula to the north-east of Tauranga's city centre. It was an independent town from Tauranga until the completion of the Tauranga Harb ...

base to Whangarei.

Honours

Anna Stanley was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

for services to netball in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

.New Year Honours List 2004
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

References

External links

on xtramsn.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Anna 1976 births Living people New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Netball players from Christchurch Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Commonwealth Games gold medallists in netball Commonwealth Games silver medallists in netball Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games New Zealand netball commentators

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

1995 World Netball Championships players 1999 World Netball Championships players 2003 World Netball Championships players Auckland Diamonds players Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic players Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Otago Rebels players