Azalea Marguerite Sinclair (née Clark; born 15 August 1930) is a former New Zealand

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 ...

player. She played as goal shoot in the New Zealand team in their second Test match, in 1948 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 ...

Early life

Sinclair was born Azalea Marguerite Clark on 15 August 1930, and grew up in the

Kaiapoi Kaiapoi is a town in the Waimakariri District of the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury region, in the South Island of New Zealand. The town is located approximately 17 kilometres north of central Christchurch, close to the mouth of the Waimak ...

area, north of

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 ...

Netball career

Clark was a member of the Canterbury provincial netball team, playing in the forward third of the court. In 1949, she was described as showing "amazing skill at shooting", and was reported as combining well with her fellow attacking players. In 1948, Clark was selected in the New Zealand national team for the first Test against the touring Australian team at Forbury Park in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. The match was played under international rules, with seven players per side, which were unfamiliar to the New Zealanders who were used to playing nine-a-side. The Australian team was victorious, winning 27–16. The match was the only occasion on which Clark represented New Zealand, because the New Zealand side for the three-Test series was selected on a regional basis.

Later life

In about 1956, Clark married Ian McKay Sinclair, a

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 ...

and

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 ...

cricket representative. Ian Sinclair died in 2019. In 2018, Azalea Sinclair appeared at a netball Test match between New Zealand and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

, tossing the coin before the start of the game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Azalea 1930 births Living people Sportspeople from Kaiapoi New Zealand international netball players New Zealand netball players 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen