Pamela Joy Barham (formerly Edmonds, née Smith; 11 November 1933 – 13 December 2001) was a 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 and coach. She played 12 Tests for the New Zealand netball team, and captained the side at the

1963 World Netball Championships The 1963 World Netball Championships was the first edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial international netball competition. It was held from 2 August to 14 August and in Eastbourne, England. It featured eleven teams. In a round ro ...

, where they were runners-up. She later moved to Australia, and coached the

Australian netball team The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad Series ...

in 1985 and 1986.

Early life

Barham was born Pamela Joy Smith in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

on 11 November 1933, the daughter of Percy Albert Smith and Violet Sarah Elizabeth Smith (née Bland). After moving to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

when she was 16 years old, she became a physical education teacher, taught at Christchurch West High School, and married James David Edmonds.

Netball playing career

Edmonds was a member of the Canterbury provincial netball team from 1953, playing mainly at centre, and gained South Island honours from 1957. She also represented Canterbury and the South Island in women's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In 1960, Edmonds was described as "one of the fittest players in New Zealand", and it was reported that "she intercepts and attacks well and passes brilliantly into the goal circle". She was subsequently selected for the New Zealand team that toured Australia that year. She played in 14 of the 16 games on tour, including in all three Test matches, and it was reported that her play at centre "was sound in all her games, and the speed with which she threw the ball into the forwards earned some very favourable comments". In the first Test match in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, New Zealand achieved their first ever victory over , winning 49–40. However, the second and third Tests of the series were won by Australia, 44–39 and 46–45, respectively. Three years later, Edmonds captained the New Zealand team at the inaugural World Netball Championships at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, England. At the tournament, New Zealand recorded nine wins and one loss, 36–37 against Australia, to finish as runners-up.

Move to Australia and coaching career

After her divorce from Jim Edmonds in 1967, Pamela Edmonds married university lecturer Ian Hamilton Barham, and the couple moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia, in 1974. Pamela Barham taught movement and dance at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, and continued her involvement in netball as a coach. She coached the Australian national netball team in 1985–1986, including at the

1985 World Games The 1985 World Games were the second edition of the World Games, an international multi-sport event held in London. Three main venues were used, the main one being the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. The opening ceremony was held at the ...

, where Australia finished second to New Zealand. After her short tenure coaching Australia, Barham and English netballer Christine Maylor established Netball Coaching International, a consultancy that saw them travelling internationally to coach netball players and advise netball coaches. In 1988, Barham co-authored ''Netball Australia: a socio-historical analysis'' with sports historian Ian Jobling. Barham died in Brisbane on 13 December 2001. Her husband, Ian, returned to New Zealand and died at Whangaparaoa on 24 October 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Pamela 1933 births 2001 deaths Sportspeople from Dunedin New Zealand international netball players New Zealand netball players New Zealand expatriate netball people in Australia New Zealand netball coaches Australia national netball team coaches 1963 World Netball Championships players New Zealand schoolteachers 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen