Jenny-May Clarkson (née Coffin; 9 April 1974) is a New Zealand television presenter and former New Zealand netball player. Clarkson was a member of the Silver Ferns, the

New Zealand national netball team 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 Netball at the Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Games, the ...

, from 1997 to 2002, and was the vice-captain in 2001. She also played for the

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. The team were formed in 1998, following the merger of Waikato Wildcats and Bay of Plenty Magic. In 1997, Wildcats and Magic had been founder members of the Coca-Col ...

in the

National Bank Cup The National Bank Cup, originally known as the Coca-Cola Cup, was the top level national Netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball league between 1998 in New Zealand, 1998 and 2007 in New Zealand, 2007. The league was organised by Netball Ne ...

(1998–2004) and the Auckland Diamonds (2007); she also played one season 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 ...

in 2008 for the Southern Steel, and was signed to play with the

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

in 2010. Since 2005, Clarkson has been a sports commentator and news presenter for

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

and

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. She currently co-hosts ''Breakfast'' with Chris Chang.

Early life

Jenny-May Clarkson was born in

Te Kūiti Te Kūiti is a town in the north of the King Country region of the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of New Zealand State Highway 3, State Highways 3 and New Zealand State Highway 30, 30 and on the North Island Main Trunk rail ...

, New Zealand. She was the youngest of six children raised by Waka and Paddy Coffin in Piopio, close to Mokaukohunui

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

. Her father's parents were Charlie Coffin, a

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

, and Harata, a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

International netball

Jenny-May Clarkson played for the Silver Ferns from 1997–2002. She was vice-captain in 2001, and represented the Silver Ferns at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

. She made 26 caps for the Ferns before retiring from international netball at the end of 2002.

Domestic netball

Jenny-May Clarkson played in New Zealand domestic netball leagues since 1995 and the National Bank Cup since 1998. She started playing for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in 1998 and in 2000 was appointed captain. She left the Magic in 2004, going into retirement and worked as a sports presenter on

. She returned to netball in 2006 and played in the National Championships before playing in the Auckland Diamonds as captain in 2007. With the National Bank Cup replaced by the

in 2008, Coffin was signed with the Southern Steel on a two-year contract. However, she pulled out of the team after the first season to focus on her television career. Coffin announced her return to competitive netball in October 2009, signing with the Northern Mystics for the 2010 ANZ Championship season.

Broadcasting

Clarkson first joined TVNZ in 2005 as the netball commentator for the National Bank Cup on ONE Sport. In March of that year she was announced as the weekend sports presenter and sports producer during the weekdays. In 2006, she regained her role on ONE Sport and she rejoined the netball commentating team. In 2007, she played for the Auckland Diamonds netball team. She presented sport on TV One on Mondays and Tuesdays, and commentated some National Bank Cup games. She was a news presenter on

TVNZ 7 TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to laun ...

before TVNZ dropped the station. Clarkson replaced

Daniel Faitaua Daniel Faitaua (born 11 May 1976) is a New Zealand television news reporter of Samoan descent. He was the ''1News'' Europe correspondent, based in London, from 2019 to 2022 and was previously newsreader on ''Breakfast'' and ''1 News at Midday'' ...

as the news presenter on ''Breakfast'' on TVNZ 1 in September 2019. In August 2020 she succeeded Hayley Holt as co-presenter, alongside John Campbell.

Controversy

In April 2018 after the Silver Ferns failed to qualify for a medal at the Commonwealth Games, Clarkson's question about whether the team had pride in the black dress, asked of captain Katrina Rore, was criticised as being too harsh.

Personal life

Clarkson married Dean Clarkson in 2015; the couple had twin sons in 2016.

References

External links

2010 Northern Mystics profile2010 ANZ Championship profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Jenny May 1974 births Living people New Zealand netball players New Zealand television presenters New Zealand international netball players Northern Mystics players Southern Steel players Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic players Auckland Diamonds players ANZ Championship players Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand New Zealand Māori netball players Sportspeople from Te Kūiti Commonwealth Games silver medallists in netball Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games New Zealand women television presenters New Zealand netball commentators Northern Mystics coaches National Bank Cup players Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Northern Force players