Solonaima Maria Folau (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Tuta'ia; born 18 February 1987 in

Tokoroa Tokoroa is the fourth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua and 20 km south of Putāruru, close to the foot of th ...

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 ...

) is a retired New Zealand

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. She played regularly for 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 ...

, the Silver Ferns.

Early life

Folau was born Solonaima Maria Tuta'ia in

on 18 February 1987, the daughter of Fuisami Tuta'ia, a

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

worker, and his wife, Niukini, a homemaker, who in 1983 had moved to New Zealand from

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. She was named for her grandmothers, Solonaima and Malia, and she began using her middle name when she entered school as her teacher had difficulty pronouncing her first name. Maria Tuta'ia was an attendee of Lynfield College but in the final year of it, transferred to

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 ...

. At MAGS, she became a captain of its first Premier Netball team, which under her command came fourth at the Upper North Island Secondary Schools tournament and New Zealand Secondary Schools' Championships respectively. In 2003, Folau was named in the New Zealand U21 squad and two years later she became part of the winning team that brought home the 2005 World Youth Cup from Miami. That year, she was called into the

Silver Ferns 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 Commonwealth Games, the Taini Jamison Trophy, the Constell ...

team, making her on-court debut when the Ferns toured Jamaica.

Career

Early career

Folau played domestic netball for the Auckland Diamonds during 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 ...

from 2005 to 2007. With the start of 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, she signed with 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 ...

, partnering

Irene van Dyk Irene van Dyk (née Viljoen; born 21 June 1972) is a former netball international who represented both New Zealand and South Africa. Between 2000 and 2014 she made 145 senior appearances for New Zealand. She was a member of the New Zealand teams ...

in the shooting circle. She played with the Magic for two years, before transferring back to Auckland 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 ...

, starting in 2010.

Later career

During her senior international career, Maria Folau has won gold medals at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

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 by ...

, in addition to a silver medal at the

2007 World Netball Championships The 2007 World Netball Championships was the 12th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball co-ordinated by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). Sixteen nations contested t ...

. In the 2010 ANZ Championship, Folau was the first and only player to be sent off during the match against the Swifts for persistent breaking. This send off happened in the last two minutes of the match and she took no further part in that match. She is renowned for scoring the crucial goals, such as in the gold medal match against Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and during the

2011 ANZ Championship season The 2011 ANZ Championship season was the fourth season of the ANZ Championship. The 2011 season began on 13 February and concluded on 22 May. With a team coached by Roselee Jencke, captained by Lauren Nourse and featuring Romelda Aiken, Laura G ...

when she scored the winning goal in the dying seconds against the Magic. In 2014, Folau was inducted into the Mt. Albert Grammar School Hall of Fame. In 2018 after playing for nine seasons with the

she joined

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 ...

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 ...

for the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. Folau was the leading goalscorer for the Thunderbirds and won the club's best and fairest award, though she parted ways with the club at the end of the season. She represented New Zealand 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

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 December 2019, Netball New Zealand announced that Folau had retired from domestic and international netball. She finished her career with 150 caps for the Silver Ferns, the second-most capped player for her nation behind

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 ...

. In February 2022 it was reported that the

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian professional netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pl ...

were in discussions with Folau.

Personal life

Folau is married to the

Tongan Australian Tongan Australians () are Australians who are of ethnic Tongan descent or Tongans who hold Australian citizenship. Background According to the 2011 Australian census 10,560 Australians were born in Tonga, while 25,096 claimed Tongan ancestry. ...

rugby player

Israel Folau Israel ‘Isileli Folau (; born 3 April 1989) is a professional dual-code rugby player who plays as a fullback for Japan Rugby League One club Urayasu D-Rocks. Born in Australia, he represents Tonga at international level after qualifying ...

. The two married in Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales on 15 November 2017, in a private outdoor ceremony. She subsequently changed her last name from Tuta'ia to Folau.

References

External links