Maia Wilson (born 21 September 1997) is a New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the

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 ...

teams that won the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup and the 2021 Constellation Cup. She also represented New Zealand 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 ...

. Wilson made her senior league debut with

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 ...

during the

2016 ANZ Championship season The 2016 ANZ Championship season was the ninth and last season of the ANZ Championship. The season began on 1 April 2016 and concluded on 4 July 2016. Southern Steel (netball), Southern Steel were minor premiers. However they subsequently lost ...

. Since

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 ...

, she has played for Northern Stars in the

ANZ Premiership The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netbal ...

. In both

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 ...

and

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 ...

, she was the ANZ Premiership top goal scorer. Wilson was a prominent member of the

and 2022 Northern Stars teams that were ANZ Premiership grand finalists. Ahead of 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, she was appointed Stars captain. Wilson is also a former New Zealand women's basketball international.

Early life, family and education

Wilson is 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 ...

with

Te Rarawa Te Rarawa is a Māori iwi of Northland, 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 ...

Te Waiohua Te Waiohua or Te Wai-o-Hua is a Māori iwi (tribe) confederation that thrived in the early 17th century. The rohe (tribal area) was primarily the central Tāmaki Makaurau area (the Auckland isthmus) and they had pā (fortified settlements) at Te ...

, Te Ākitai Waiohua and Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua affiliations. She was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. She is the daughter of Joe and Kārena Wilson. She has one brother, Kahikatea. Her father died in 2016 from a brain tumor. She attended

Mount Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in N ...

, representing the school at both netball and basketball. Between 2016 and 2022 she attended

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

. In May 2022, she graduated with a Bachelor of Communication, majoring in Public Relations, with a minor in Media Studies.

Basketball

School and club career

Wilson played basketball for

in schoolgirl competitions and for Waitakere West Lady Rangers in club competitions. In 2015 she was offered a basketball scholarship to the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

, but turned it down when she was offered a netball contract with

New Zealand

In August 2014, Wilson played for

in a four-nation tournament in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. She also represented New Zealand at the 2014 FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship for Women.

Netball

Playing career

Mount Albert

Wilson was selected for the

senior A team while still in Year 9, her first year at the school. Between 2012 and 2015, together with Erikana Pedersen and Jamie-Lee Price, Wilson was a member of MAGS teams that won four successive New Zealand Secondary School netball titles. The MAGS team was coached by

Te Aroha Keenan Te Aroha Keenan is a New Zealand former netball coach and member of the Silver Ferns in the 1980s. She later coached the Cook Islands national team at the 1999 Netball World Championships, as well as a multinational Team Pasifika in a test seri ...

. While still attending MAGS, Wilson signed a contract with

and was invited to attend trials with the senior

team. During the 2015 NZSS tournament, Wilson scored 230 from 252 as she helped MAGS win a fourth successive title. She scored 36 from 39 as MAGS beat

Saint Kentigern College Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. The school is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board. Established in 1953, the college is semi co-educational, with a single-gender ...

41–35 in the final. This was her last game for MAGS.

Central Pulse

Ahead of the

, Wilson signed for

. Following an injury to Jodi Brown, Wilson became a regular starter, playing alongside Ameliaranne Wells. She made her senior league debut with Pulse in a

Round 1 Round 1 may refer to: * ''Round 1'' (EP), a 2011 EP by C-REAL * "Round 1" (song), a 2010 song by Dalmatian * ''Round 1'', an album by Eraser vs Yöjalka * Round One Corporation, a Japan-based amusement store chain. See also * '' Round One: The ...

match against

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 ...

, scoring 34 from 38 in a 57–56 win. Wilson played just one season with Pulse, making 13 appearances and scoring 412 from 447 with a 92% success rate.

Northern Stars

Since

, Wilson has played for Northern Stars in the

. In

she was the ANZ Premiership top goal scorer. She scored 566 from 633 with an 89% success rate. On 31 March 2019, Wilson made her 50th senior league appearance while playing for Stars against

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

, Wilson was again the ANZ Premiership top goal scorer. She scored 619 from 743 with an 83% success rate. Her goals helped the 2019 Northern Stars reach the grand final. Ahead of the

season, Wilson was appointed Stars captain. On 22 May 2022, Wilson made her 100th senior league appearance while playing for Stars in a 2022 Round 11 against Mystics. Wilson subsequently captained Stars to a second grand final.

New Zealand

In 2015 and 2016, Wilson was invited to attend trials with the senior

team. She made her senior debut, aged just 19, on 14 September 2016 during a

2016 Taini Jamison Trophy Series The 2016 Taini Jamison Trophy Series was the eighth Taini Jamison Trophy series. It featured New Zealand playing Jamaica in a series of three netball test matches, played in September 2016. New Zealand won all three tests. New Zealand were coa ...

match against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. Coming on in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Wilson made an immediate impact, slotting her first shot on goal and going on to net three goals on debut. She was subsequently a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup. In the opening match of the 2020 Netball Nations Cup, Wilson, in just her 11th test and second start, scored 27 from 29 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 ...

. In the second match against Jamaica she scored 42 from 45 in a 71–45 win. She finished the tournament scoring 137 from 151 with a 91% success rate. During the 2020 Taini Jamison Trophy Series against England, Wilson scored 116 from 127 with a 91% success rate. She was a prominent member of the New Zealand team that won the 2021 Constellation Cup. She scored 140 from 161 with an 87% success rate and was the only New Zealand player to play all 240 minutes over the series. On 6 October 2024, Wilson made her 50th senior appearance for New Zealand in the 2024 Taini Jamison Trophy Series.

Statistics

Grand finals

Individual stats

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Personal life

Wilson has been open about her past

body image Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in several disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, psycho ...

struggles starting from her teenage years. Wilson trains out of Peach Boxing with Isaac Peach to help with fitness.

Honours

;

* Constellation Cup **''Winners'':

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 ...

Taini Jamison Trophy The Taini Jamison Trophy series is an international netball series hosted by Netball New Zealand. The series traditionally features New Zealand national netball team, New Zealand playing a series of Test match (netball), test matches against a ...

**''Winners'':

*Netball Nations Cup **''Winners'':

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'': 2017 (August/September) * Netball World Youth Cup **''Winners'':

Fast5 Netball World Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an annual international Fast5 netball competition. The competition, which began in October 2009, features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The competition is co ...

**''Winners'':

; Northern Stars *

**''Runners Up'':

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Maia 1997 births Living people New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players New Zealand international Fast5 players New Zealand Māori netball players Netball players from Auckland Northern Stars players Central Pulse players ANZ Championship players ANZ Premiership players Te Rarawa people Te Waiohua people Te Ākitai Waiohua people New Zealand women's basketball players People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School Massey University alumni Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in netball Netball players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 2023 Netball World Cup players Boxers trained by Isaac Peach 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen