Brenda Rowberry is a former

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 in

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 played for her country on 12 occasions, including in the 1971 Netball World Championships. She is the mother of

Anna Stanley Anna Catherine Stanley (née Rowberry, born 31 March 1976 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand netballer, who captained the national team (the Silver Ferns), to win the 2003 Netball World Championships in Jamaica. She led the Silve ...

, who played netball for 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 ...

'' 92 times.

Early life

Brenda Rowberry (née Walker) was born on 3 December 1946. She went to the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

School of Physical Education (OUSPE) 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 ...

, where she met her husband, Jerry Rowberry, who would go on to teach Physical Education at

Christ's College, Canterbury Christ's College, Canterbury is an independent Anglican secondary Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in the Christchurch Central City, city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand. Founded in 1850 by Reverend Henry Jacobs (priest) ...

. They both graduated in 1969. While at university, Rowberry competed in athletics in

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

, discus and

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

events. She took part in the

New Zealand University Games The New Zealand University Games is a multi-sport competition held annually in each March / April between teams fielded from a large number of New Zealand Universities and tertiary institutions. It was formerly known as the Easter Tournament. Th ...

in athletics and represented the New Zealand universities in competition with Australian universities.

Netball career

Rowberry played netball for

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 was first selected for the ''Silver Ferns'', the national team, in June 1969, becoming the 48th woman to play for the team, and was on the team until 1971. She played mainly in the Goal Defence position, usually in partnership with Tilly Hirst. Rowberry was a strong player, helped by her athletic training, and was one of the few netball players of the time who did weight training. She took part in the

1971 World Netball Championships The 1971 World Netball Championships were the third edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica, and featured nine teams, including the debut of the Bahamas. It began ...

, which were held in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, with New Zealand finishing second.

Later career

Rowberry taught Physical Education for 16 years at Linwood High School (now

Linwood College Te Aratai College (founded as Linwood High School, then renamed Linwood College from 2000–2021) is a co-educational secondary school in Linwood, a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. History Founded in the early 1950s to cater for the seco ...

) 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 ...

and then transferred to

Rangi Ruru Girls' School Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand private school, private girls' day and boarding school, boarding secondary school located in Merivale, Christchurch, Merivale, an inner suburb of Christchurch. The school is affiliated with the Presbyte ...

in Christchurch. She also coached netball, often at the Sacred Hearts College Old Girls' Club. A junior-grade netball competition between schools in the Canterbury region is known as the Brenda Rowberry Cup. In 2018 she and her husband were both given a Service Award by the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletic Association.

Family

Rowberry and her husband have four daughters. Their second daughter, Anna, played for the ''Silver Ferns'' on 92 occasions. They were the second mother and daughter to play for the Silver Ferns, one year after Belinda Charteris, daughter of

Judy Blair Judy Blair (born December 29, 1948) is an American musician, singer, piano and Hammond B3 organ player, a composer of jazz, blues, rhythm & blues and boogie music. She is a Hammond organ virtuoso whose musical career began in the United States i ...

, first played for the team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowberry, Brenda New Zealand international netball players 1971 World Netball Championships players Living people 1946 births University of Otago alumni 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen