Caitlin Thwaites (born 29 December 1986) is a former Australian

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 and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

er.

Career

Caitlin Thwaites was born in Bendigo, Australia. Thwaites began her career at for the

Melbourne Kestrels Melbourne Kestrels were an Australian netball team that represented Netball Victoria in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. Between 1997 and 2007, together with Melbourne Phoenix, they were one of two teams to represent Netball Victoria in the Commo ...

of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy at the age of 16. However, once 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 ...

was founded in 2008 she moved to the

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. B ...

. Thwaites played for the Vixens from 2008 to 2010 and was part of the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

premiership team which defeated the

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 ANZ Championship s ...

. In 2011 she joined New Zealand–based ANZ Championship side the

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that ...

. In 2012 Thwaites made her international debut for the Australian Diamonds. Thwaites performed a vital role for the Pulse, scoring 431 goals for an accuracy percentage 81.3 per cent in the 2011 season. Thwaites later became the only New Zealand–based player to be picked for the Australia national team. She returned to Australia to play her domestic league netball in 2014 with the New South Wales Swifts and won the club's MVP award in 2015. Thwaites began playing for the Collingwood Magpies in the

Suncorp Super Netball The Super Netball League (known predominantly by its sponsored name Suncorp Group, Suncorp Super Netball (SSN)) is a professional netball league in Netball in Australia, Australia. It superseded the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship, which also inc ...

competition from

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, where she won the league's leading goalscorer award, scoring 594 goals in the regular season. She was awarded the Magpies'

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

for her efforts that year. On 5 September 2018, after not being offered another contract at the Magpies, Thwaites announced she would be signing with the

for the 2019 season. Thwaites has won

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

representing Australia at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

and the 2015 Netball World Cup, as well as a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. She was selected in the Australian Diamonds squad for the 2018/19 international season and featured in the Diamonds’

2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matches ...

squad. She announced her retirement from international netball in October 2019, finishing with 55 caps for the national team. Thwaites was part of the Melbourne Vixens premiership team that won the 2020 Grand Final; she announced her retirement from netball after this match.

Volleyball

Thwaites has also represented Australia in women's volleyball, most notably at the 2004 Olympics qualifications.

Netball career facts

Sources: * Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist in 2014 * Commonwealth Games Silver Medallist in 2018 * ANZ Championship winner in 2009 (Vixens) * Member of the Diamonds’ World Cup winning squad in 2015 * Diamonds debut in 2012 * NSW Swifts MVP 2015 * Central Pulse MVP 2011 * Magpies Netball 2017 Best and Fairest * Magpies Netball 2017 Players' Player * Magpies Netball vice-captain 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thwaites, Caitlin 1986 births Living people Australian women's volleyball players New South Wales Swifts players Melbourne Vixens players Collingwood Magpies Netball players Central Pulse players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Netball players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in netball Australia international netball players Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 2019 Netball World Cup players Suncorp Super Netball players Netball players from Victoria (state) Australia international Fast5 players Australian expatriate netball people in New Zealand 2015 Netball World Cup players Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Australian sportswomen