Elizabeth Watson (born 30 March 1994), commonly known as Liz Watson, is an Australia netball international. Watson was a member of the Australia teams that won the gold medals at the

2022 Commonwealth games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, and at the

2023 Netball World Cup The 2023 Netball World Cup (formerly known as the Vitality Netball World Cup 2023) was the sixteenth staging of the Netball World Cup, the premier competition in international netball, contested every four years. The tournament was held from 28 J ...

. She also won silver medals 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 ...

and at 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 matches ...

. In 2018 and 2022 she received the

Liz Ellis Diamond The following is a list notable Australian netball international players who have represented the national team in international tournaments such as the Commonwealth Games, the Netball World Cup, the World Games, the Constellation Cup, the Net ...

award. She captained Australia during the 2021 Constellation Cup. Since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Watson has played for

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 ...

, initially in 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 ...

and later in

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 ...

. She was a member of the Vixens' teams that won premierships in

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. Watson moved to the

Sunshine Coast Lightning Sunshine Coast Lightning are a professional Australian netball team based at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between the university and Melbourne Storm. Since 2017 they have played in Suncor ...

for the

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

season.

Early life, family and education

Watson is originally from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. She was born in Carlton and raised in

Pascoe Vale South Pascoe Vale South is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek local government area. Pascoe Vale South recorded a population of 10,534 at the 2021 ...

. She is the daughter of Manuela and Neil Watson. Her mother's family are

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. Her two uncles, Anthony and Steven Alessio, and her older brother, Matthew Watson, are all former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

ers. She attended

Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (abbreviated as PEGS) is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Comprehensive School#Australia, comprehensive Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school ...

and

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

, studying health science at the latter. As of 2022, Watson is currently studying for a Bachelor of Education (Primary) at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

Playing career

Netball Victoria

Watson began playing netball seriously from the age of 12. Her mother was a netball player and Watson credits her for teaching her how to play. She subsequently went on to represent

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

at under-12, under-15, under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. In 2012 she was a member of the Victoria under-19 team that won the

Australian National Netball Championships The Australian National Netball Championships are a series of annual netball tournaments, organised by Netball Australia and featuring representative teams from the states and territories of Australia. The earliest tournaments took place during ...

. In 2013 she was a member of the Victoria under-21 team that were runners-up.

City West Falcons

In 2013, Watson played for

City West Falcons The Victorian Netball League (VNL) is a state netball league featuring teams from Victoria, Australia. The league is organised by Netball Victoria, with the modern league beginning in 2009. It replaced an earlier state league as the top level net ...

in the Victorian Netball League, where she was coached by Nicole Richardson. She helped Falcons win the 2013 VNL title and was named Player of the Grand Final.

Victorian Flames

In 2013, Watson also captained Victorian Flames in the

Australian Netball League The Australian Netball Championships, formerly the Australian Netball League, is an Australian netball competition. Since 2008, it has served as a second-level competition, initially below the ANZ Championship and later below Suncorp Super Net ...

. She was the Flames MVP for the season, helping them finish third in the ANL.

Melbourne Vixens

Between

and 2023, Watson had played for

, initially in the

and later in

. She was called up for the Vixens team after Elissa Kent had to dropout due to pregnancy. Watson was a member of the Vixens' teams that won the 2014 ANZ Championship and was subsequently named Vixens' Rookie of the Year. In

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 ...

, Watson was a member of the Vixens team that finished the inaugural Suncorp Super Netball regular season as minor premiers. She was also named the 2017 Young Star. Between 2017 and

, Watson was named as the wing attack in the Suncorp Super Netball Team of the Year on four successive occasions. In 2017 and

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

she was also named the Vixens' MVP, winning the Sharelle McMahon Medal. In

, Watson, alongside

Kate Moloney Kate Moloney is an Australian netballer who plays for the Melbourne Vixens in the Suncorp Super Netball league. As of April 2017, she is the captain of the Vixens. Moloney made her domestic league netball debut for the Vixens in 2013 and was app ...

, co-captained Vixens when they finished the season as both minor premiers and overall champions. Watson missed the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

season due to a long-standing foot injury that needed surgery. She successfully returned to play following her injury in the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

season.

Sunshine Coast Lightning

Following the

season, Watson confirmed her exit from the

, having signed a three-year deal with the

. She debuted for her new club in round one of the

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

season.

Australia

Watson made her senior debut for

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 ...

on 20 January 2016 during an away series 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 ...

. Watson was a member of the Australia teams that won the silver medals at the

and at the

. In 2018 she was awarded the

award and was named

Australian International Player of the Year The Australian International Player of the Year (or Gaze Medal) is an award for the best player of the Australia men's national basketball team, given annually between 1988 and 2012 and then in World Cup and Olympic years from 2014 onwards. The vo ...

. Watson captained Australia during the 2021 Constellation Cup. In September 2021 she was confirmed as Australia's captain. Watson was a member of the Australian teams that won gold medal at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, and at the

Honours

;

Netball World Cup 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'':

**''Runners up'':

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

**''Winners'':

**''Runners Up'':

Constellation Cup The Constellation Cup is an international netball competition contested by Australia and New Zealand. The competition features a series of test matches. The two teams have competed for the trophy since 2010. Australia won the inaugural series a ...

**''Winners'':

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

**''Runners Up'':

Netball Quad Series The Netball Quad Series, also referred to as the SANZEA Netball Quad Series, is an international netball series. The series traditionally features Australia national netball team, Australia, England national netball team, England, New Zealand nati ...

**''Winners'':

, 2018 (September), 2018 (January),

**''Runners Up'': 2017 (August/September) ;

**''Winners'':

**''Minor Premierships'':

**''Winners'':

**''Minor Premierships'':

;

* Victorian Netball League **''Winners'': 2013 ;

**''Winners'': Under-19 (2012) **''Runners-up'': Under-21 (2013) ;Individual Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Liz Living people 1994 births Australian netball players 21st-century Australian sportswomen Australia international netball players Melbourne Vixens players Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in netball Commonwealth Games silver medallists in netball Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Netball players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia 2019 Netball World Cup players ANZ Championship players Suncorp Super Netball players Victorian Netball League players Australian Netball League players People educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School La Trobe University alumni Deakin University alumni Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Netball players from Melbourne People from Pascoe Vale, Victoria Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 2023 Netball World Cup players