Samantha Poolman (born 4 March 1991), also known as Sam Poolman, is a former Australian netball player. Between 2010 and 2015, Poolman played for NNSW Blues,

NNSW Waratahs Netball New South Wales Waratahs is an Australian netball team that represents Netball New South Wales in the Australian Netball League. In 2008 they were founder members of the ANL. They were ANL champions in 2011 and have been grand finalists ...

and Southern Force 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 Ne ...

. Between

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

and 2016, she played for

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. 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 played ...

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 own ...

. She was a member of the Thunderbirds team that won the 2013 ANZ Championship. Between

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, Poolman has played for

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

Suncorp Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

Early life, family and education

Poolman is originally from

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle ar ...

. She was born in

John Hunter Hospital The John Hunter Hospital and John Hunter Children's Hospital (sometimes known as the JHH and JHCH respectively, or more colloquially The John Hunter) is the principal referral centre and a tertiary hospital for Newcastle, and northern New South ...

. She is the daughter of John and Robyn Poolman and she has three brothers. She attended

Lambton High School Lambton High School (also known as New Lambton High School) is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in the suburb of Lambton in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1974, the school ...

. In 2021 Poolman was named Newcastle's Young Citizen of the Year. Her brother, Luke Poolman, was the Hunter Gridiron League Rookie of the year in 2023.

Playing career

Early years

Poolman began playing netball aged seven, playing for the West Leagues Netball Club in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. As a 16-year-old, she was invited to training sessions with Hunter Jaegers. She was also selected for the Newcastle representative team and gained scholarships to the Hunter Academy of Sport, the

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high performance sports training institute located in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides world leading coaching, performance support and daily training ...

and the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

New South Wales

Between 2007 and 2012, Poolman represented

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 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 ...

at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels, playing in five tournament winning teams.

Australian Netball League

Poolman played for Territory Storm, NNSW Blues and

in the

. She played for Storm in 2009, for Blues in 2010 and 2011 and for Waratahs in 2012. After signing for

, Poolman subsequently played in the ANL for Southern Force diring the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Adelaide Thunderbirds

Between

and 2016, Poolman played for

in the

. She was a member of the Thunderbirds team that won the 2013 ANZ Championship, playing in Rounds 2, 3, 8 and 10. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

she played in six games, including her starting debut against

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team ...

in Round 3.

Garville

Between 2013 and 2015, while playing for

and Southern Force, Poolman also played for Garville in the Netball South Australia Premier League.

Giants Netball

Between

and

, Poolman played for Giants Netball in

. In 2017 Poolman was vice captain of the Giants team that finished as runners up in the new league's inaugural season. She subsequently shared the Giants Members' Player of the Year award with

Joanne Harten Joanne Elizabeth Harten (born 21 March 1989) is a former England netball international. She was a member of the England team that won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She also sits on the board of the Australian Netball Players ...

. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

she was a member of the Giants team that finished as minor premiers. Poolman made her 50th senior national league appearance in the 2018 Round 9 match against

. While playing for Giants, Poolman also served as a player delegate for the Australian Netball Players Association. Poolman made her 100th senior national league appearance in a 2021 Round 13 match. She subsequently played for Giants in the 2021 grand final. In September 2021, she announced her retirement as an elite netball player.

Australia

Between 2007 and 2011, Poolman represented Australia at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. She also played for Australia at both the

and 2018 Fast5 Netball World Series tournaments. She captained Australia at the latter tournament.

Coach

Since 2017 Poolman has led and coached with the ASPIRE Development Program. The program provides netball coaching for 11 to 17-year-olds based in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...

Personal life

Poolman is in a relationship with Ben Kennedy. They share a home in East Maitland

Honours

;

**''Winners'':

; Giants Netball *

**''Runners up'':

**''Minor premiers'':

;

**''Winners'': Under-17 (2007), Under-19 (2008, 2009), Under-21 (2010, 2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poolman, Samantha 1991 births Living people Australian netball players Australian netball coaches Australia international Fast5 players Netball players from New South Wales Adelaide Thunderbirds players Giants Netball players Australian Institute of Sport netball players Territory Storm players Netball New South Wales Blues players Netball New South Wales Waratahs players Southern Force (netball) players Garville Netball Club players ANZ Championship players Suncorp Super Netball players Australian Netball League players South Australia state netball league players New South Wales Institute of Sport netball players Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales New South Wales state netball league players