Annette Heffernan is a former New Zealand netball international. Between 1985 and 1990, she made nine senior appearances for

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 ...

. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won gold medals at the

1987 World Netball Championships The 1987 World Netball Championships was the seventh edition of the INF Netball World Cup held in Glasgow, Scotland. This quadrennial premier event in international netball featured 17 teams, and included the debut of Cook Islands. The format of ...

and the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

1989 World Games The 1989 World Games (), commonly known as Karlsruhe 1989, were the third edition of the World Games, an international multi-sport event. This edition was held in Karlsruhe, West Germany. Titles 112 titles were awarded in 19 sports (5 invitatio ...

. Her sister, Maxine Blomquist, their cousin, Shirley Langrope, and her twin daughters,

Kate Heffernan Kate Alexandra Heffernan (born 7 October 1999) is a New Zealand netball international and former cricketer. She represented the New Zealand national netball team at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Netball World Cup. She captained Ne ...

and

Georgia Heffernan Georgia Heffernan is a New Zealand netball international. Since 2018, she has played for Southern Steel. Her mother, Annette Heffernan, her aunt, Maxine Blomquist, her sister, Kate Heffernan and a cousin, Shirley Langrope, are all New Zeal ...

, have all played international netball for New Zealand. Annette and Maxine were the first set of sisters to play international netball for New Zealand. Kate and Georgia were the third set.

Early life and family

Heffernan is originally from

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. She is the sister of Maxine Blomquist and a cousin of Shirley Langrope, who are also former New Zealand netball internationals. She is married to Noel Heffernan, who played rugby union for Canterbury Country. Together they have three children. Their twin daughters,

and

are both New Zealand netball internationals.

Netball career

New Zealand

Between 1985 and 1990, Heffernan made nine senior appearances for

. On 2 February 1985, she made her senior debut against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

during the netball tournament at the

Australia Games Australia Games was held in Melbourne, Victoria, from 26 January to 5 February 1985. Background The concept of the national festival of sport was first raised in John Bloomfield's report ''Role and Scope and Development of Recreation in Austral ...

. Her sister, Maxine Blomquist, was already a New Zealand netball international. Annette and Maxine were the first set of sisters to play international netball for New Zealand. She was subsequently a member of the New Zealand team that won the gold medal at the

1985 World Games The 1985 World Games were the second edition of the World Games, an international multi-sport event held in London. Three main venues were used, the main one being the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. The opening ceremony was held at the ...

. A knee injury on the eve of the

limited Heffernan's involvement to just one match. Heffernan won a third gold medal at the

. At the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...

, she also played for New Zealand against

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 ...

in a one-off match when netball was a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration sport ...

. During the

Ruth Aitken Dame Ruth Ellina Aitken (née Fathers; born 31 July 1956) is a New Zealand former international-level netball player and former head coach of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns. Biography Aitken was born in 1956 in Paeroa ...

era, Heffernan served as a New Zealand selector.

Coach

Heffernan has served as an assistant coach and/or team manager of several teams that featured her twin daughters,

and

. These have included their

St Hilda's Collegiate School Saint Hilda's Collegiate School is a secondary school for girls in Dunedin, New Zealand. History Founded as an Anglican school in 1896 by the first bishop of Dunedin, Bishop Samuel Nevill and staffed by the Sisters of the Church. The sisters ...

team and the Netball South team in the National Netball League.

Honours

;

World Netball Championships The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and the New ...

**''Winners'':

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

**''Winners'':

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffernan, Annette 1962 births Living people New Zealand netball players New Zealand netball coaches New Zealand international netball players 1987 World Netball Championships players Netball players at the 1985 World Games Netball players at the 1989 World Games Annette Sportspeople from the Canterbury Region World Games gold medalists for New Zealand World Games medalists in netball Medalists at the 1989 World Games 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen