Casey May Kopua (née Williams; born 19 June 1985) is a retired New Zealand international

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player and former captain of the

New Zealand national netball team The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern ('' Cyathea dealbata''), which is an emblem for many New Zealand ...

, the Silver Ferns, and the

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. Between 1999 and 2007, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, Magic have ...

. Kopua became a member of the

(the Silver Ferns) in 2004, making her on-court debut in 2005 against Barbados. She also played in the New Zealand U21 netball team that won gold at the 2005

World Youth Netball Championships Previously known as the World Youth Netball Championships, the Netball World Youth Cup (since 2017) is the world championships of netball for national U21 teams, with all players being aged 21 years or younger. As part of the Australian Bicentena ...

in Florida. During her career she has won gold medals at the 2006 and

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

and the

2009 World Netball Series The 2009 World Netball Series was the inaugural tournament of the World Netball Series. The 2009 Series was held at MEN Arena in Manchester, England from 9–11 October, and was the first major trial of the new FastNet rules that were announced b ...

, and silver medals at the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

and

2011 World Netball Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Si ...

. In 2008, she co-captained the team with

Laura Langman Laura Robyn Langman (born 16 April 1986) is a retired New Zealand international netball player, who last played domestic netball for the Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Australian Super Netball league. Primarily a midcourt player, Langman is ...

, stepping into the role of acting captain later that year following an injury to

Julie Seymour Julie Seymour (née Dawson; born 29 March 1971) is a New Zealand netball coach, former international netball player and former representative middle distance runner. Seymour played for the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, in ...

. In July 2009, Kopua became the 23rd captain of the Silver Ferns, taking over from Seymour who retired from the game. Casey Williams

In domestic netball, Kopua played her entire career with the

, starting in 2003. During the

2008 ANZ Championship season The 2008 ANZ Championship season was the inaugural season of the ANZ Championship. The 2008 season began on 5 April and concluded on 28 July. Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic were minor premiers after finishing top of the table following the regular ...

, she was named the Holden Captiva player of the championship, winning a new car. In the

2011 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2011 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2011 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,Officer 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 (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, alongside former Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken, for services to

netball in New Zealand Netball is the most popular women's sport in New Zealand, in terms of player participation and public interest. With the national team, the Silver Ferns, currently ranked second in the world, netball maintains a high profile in New Zealand. As in ...

. On 11 October 2014, Kopua became the most capped New Zealand netball captain in history, playing her 63rd test as captain of the team in the 3rd test of the

2014 Constellation Cup The 2014 Constellation Cup was the 5th Constellation Cup series played between Australia and New Zealand. The series, also known as the New World Netball Series, featured four netball test matches, played in October 2014. The Australia team wa ...

against Australia. In the fourth quarter of that match, Kopua suffered a suspected dislocated patella (knee injury). Scans later revealed that Kopua also ruptured her patella tendon. Three days later Kopua underwent surgery to repair her patella tendon. In 2017, still rehabing from her surgery, Kopua announced her retirement from the Silver Ferns, stating she would return to the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in 2018, but would not be available for international selection. Kopua was coaxed back to the national team by

Noeline Taurua Dame Noeline Taurua (born 26 March 1968) is a New Zealand international netball coach and former representative player. She is currently head coach of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns. Early life Taurua was born in Pap ...

for the

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 match ...

. She retired from netball after the World Cup.

Personal life

In December 2012, Kopua married Hamilton lawyer Terry Kopua. On 21 May 2016, the couple announced the birth of their daughter. They had a second child, a boy, in 2020, and another son on Christmas Eve 2021.

References

External links

2011 ANZ Championship profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopua, Casey 1985 births Living people New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in netball 2007 World Netball Championships players 2011 World Netball Championships players 2015 Netball World Cup players 2019 Netball World Cup players Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic players ANZ Championship players Halbert-Kohere family Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand New Zealand international Fast5 players National Bank Cup players