Sandra Anne Easterbrook (née James; 12 March 1946 — 18 November 2019) 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. She represented her country in the

1967 World Netball Championships The 1967 World Netball Championships was the second edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial international netball competition. The 1967 tournament was held in Perth, Western Australia, and featured eight teams. New Zealand national ne ...

, when won the gold medal for the first time.

Biography

Easterbrook was born Sandra Anne James on 12 March 1946, and came from the

Northland Region Northland (), officially the Northland Region, is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 regions of New Zealand, local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout t ...

. Representing Northland at netball, James was selected as the 41st player to represent the New Zealand national team, and played in two matches during the 1967 world championships in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, before a back injury ruled her out of the remainder of the tournament. At , Easterbrook was the tallest player on the team, and played in the position of

wing defence Netball is a ball sport for two teams of seven players; its rules are published in print and online by the International Netball Federation. Games are played on a rectangular court divided into thirds, with a raised goal at each short end. The ob ...

(WD). The New Zealand team won all seven of their games at the tournament, including defeating 40–34 in their final game, to win the world championship title for the first time. The 1967 world championship team was inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the hall ...

in 1996. James married Roger Easterbrook, and had two daughters and a son. She became a teacher at Kamo Intermediate School in

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

, in 1967, staying there until 1976. Her daughter, Suzy, who attended the same school, represented New Zealand at

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

and is now a beach volleyball coach; she is married to rower and America's Cup grinder Chris McAsey. Easterbrook died on 18 November 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Easterbrook, Sandra 1946 births 2019 deaths New Zealand international netball players 1967 World Netball Championships players Sportspeople from Whangārei 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen