Vilimaina Davu (born 15 January 1977) is a former netball international who represented both

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and

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 ...

. She was a prominent member of the

teams that were silver medallists at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

and gold medallists at the

2003 World Netball Championships The 2003 World Netball Championships were the eleventh edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica from 10 to 20 July. After 100 matches, New Zeala ...

and the

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 ...

. However, she began and ended her international career with Fiji, representing them at the

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

and

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 ...

. During the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup era, she played for Canterbury Flames and Northern Force. During the early

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 ...

era, she played for

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 2022, she was included on a list of the 25 best players to feature in

netball leagues in New Zealand 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 ...

since 1998.

Early life, family and education

Davu was born in

Nadi Nadi (, ) is the second-largest city in Fiji. It is located on the western side of the main island of Viti Levu, and had a population of 59,707 at the most recent census, in 2017. Nadi is multiracial with many of its inhabitants Asians, India ...

. Her family home was in Nuku, a village in

Serua Province Serua is one of Fiji's fourteen provinces. Its 830 square kilometers occupy the southernmost areas of Viti Levu, being one of 8 provinces based on Fiji's largest island. It had a population of 15,461 at the 2007 census A census (from Lati ...

. She began playing netball aged 8 and attended Lomary Secondary School. In November 2007, Davu's father collapsed at

Nadi International Airport Nadi International Airport is the main international airport of Fiji as well as an important regional hub for the South Pacific islands, located by the coast on the Ba Province in the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division of the main island V ...

. He was part of a small group of relatives and friends that were meeting the Fiji team on their return from the

. He died shortly after. She is married to Aporosa Tamaniveli. They met in 2004 when she returned to Fiji on a holiday. Together they have one daughter.

Playing career

Club career

Canterbury Flames

Between 2000 and 2006, Davu played for Canterbury Flames in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. She was a prominent member of the Flames teams that played in four grand finals. She captained Flames during the 2005 season. During this time she also represented Canterbury in the National Provincial Championships.

Northern Force

In 2007, Davu played for Northern Force in 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 ...

league. In November 2006, Davu was announced as the new head coach of

. It was speculated that she would be released from her contract with Force. In March 2007, Davu was injured in a car accident in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

. She escaped serious injury but was unable to join the Force team for pre-season. She subsequently helped Force reach the 2007 grand final, which they lost to

Southern Sting Southern Sting are a former New Zealand netball team that were based in Invercargill. Between 1998 and 2007, Sting played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. They were the league's most successful team. They played in all ten grand ...

Northern Mystics

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, Davu played for

in the

Netball New Zealand Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns. In 2019, 137,713 players were registered with Netball New Zealand, the governing body for organised netball in th ...

initially overruled Mystics application to register Davu, partly because she had switched allegiances from

. The ANZ Championship only allowed one foreign player per team and Mystics had already registered

Cathrine Latu Cathrine Tuivaiti (née Latu; born 25 October 1986) is a netball international who has played for Samoa, New Zealand and Tonga. She represented Samoa at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the 2007 World Netball Championships, New Zealand at the 20 ...

(

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 ...

). Netball New Zealand also based their assessment on Davu's below par performance at the

. However, Mystics successfully appealed the decision and Davu was eventually cleared to play. To help regain her fitness, Davu became an ambassador for the weight-loss company,

Jenny Craig Jenny Craig, Inc., often known simply as Jenny Craig, is an American weight loss, weight management, and nutrition company. At its peak, the company had more than 700 weight management centers in Australia, the United States, Canada, and New Ze ...

. Ahead of the 2009 season, Davu was became a

New Zealand citizen The primary law governing nationality of New Zealand is the Citizenship Act 1977, which Coming into force, came into force on 1 January 1978. Regulations apply to the entire Realm of New Zealand, which includes the country of New Zealand itse ...

. In April 2022, she was included on a list of the 25 best players to feature in

since 1998.

International career

Fiji (1993–1999)

Between 1993 and 1999, Davu made 55 senior appearances for

. In 1992, aged just 14, she was selected to play for Fiji at the 1992 World Youth Netball Championships. She was subsequently a member of the Fiji teams that were bronze medallists at the 1993 South Pacific Mini Games and gold medallists at the

1995 South Pacific Games The 10th South Pacific Games (; ), also known as Papeete 1995 (), held in Papeete, French Polynesia from 25 August to 5 September 1995, was the tenth edition of the South Pacific Games. The 1995 games were affected by the decision by France to r ...

. She captained the Fiji teams that were silver medallists at the

1997 South Pacific Mini Games The 1997 South Pacific Mini Games were held at Pago Pago in American Samoa American Samoa is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated and unorganized territory of the United States located in the Polynesia region of the Pacific Oc ...

and gold medallists at the

1999 South Pacific Games The 11th South Pacific Games, also known as Guam 1999 (), held in Santa Rita and Hagåtña, Guam from 29 May to 12 June 1999, was the eleventh edition of the South Pacific Games. Participating countries The 21 countries that competed at the 19 ...

. She also captained the Fiji team that finished sixth at the

1999 World Netball Championships The 1999 World Netball Championships (also known as the Vodafone World Netball Championships for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Christchu ...

Team Pasifika/World 7

In June 2000, Vilimaina captained the Team Pasifika selection that played

in a two match series. The 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 ...

and also featured Teresa Tairi, Jenny-May Coffin, Frances Solia and Sheryl Clarke. In July 2000, Davu played for the World 7 team that played New Zealand in a three match series. The team was coached by

Jill McIntosh Jill McIntosh is a former Australia netball international and national team head coach. As a player, McIntosh was a member of the Australia team that won the gold medal at the 1983 World Netball Championships. She later coached Australia at th ...

and also featured

Kathryn Harby Kathryn Harby-Williams (born 16 July 1969) is an Australian netball player and television presenter, who captained the Australian netball team. She is the Chief Executive Officer, Secretary and Treasurer of the Australian Netball Players’ Ass ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

), Elaine Davis (

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 ...

), Leana du Plooy (

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

New Zealand

Between 2000 and 2006, Davu made 60 senior appearances for

. On 25 November 2000, she made her senior debut against

. She was a member of the New Zealand team that were silver medalists at the

. She was a prominent member of the New Zealand teams that won the

and the

. Davu was highly regarded as an international goalkeeper.

head coach

Norma Plummer Norma Margaret Plummer AM (born 24 November 1944) is a former Australian national player who also served as netball coach for both Australia and South Africa. She was coach of Australia from 2003 to 2011, ending her coaching career with the D ...

was a big admirer.

Ruth Aitken Dame Ruth Ellina Aitken (née Fathers; born 31 July 1956) is a New Zealand former international-level netball player and former head coach of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns. Biography Aitken was born in 1956 in Paeroa ...

said Davu rated among the great New Zealand defenders such as

Waimarama Taumaunu Waimarama Taumaunu (born 18 October 1962), often known as Wai Taumaunu, is a New Zealand netball coach and former international netball player. Biography Taumaunu was born in Waipawa, New Zealand. She was a member of New Zealand's national ne ...

and

Bernice Mene Bernice Papasina Mene (born 18 January 1975) is a former New Zealand netball international. Between 1992 and 2001, Mene made 76 senior appearances for New Zealand. She represented New Zealand at the 1993 World Games, the 1998 Commonwealth Gam ...

. In October 2005, she announced she was retiring from international netball.

Fiji (2007)

In 2006 and 2007, Davu served as head coach of

. She was head coach when Fiji won the gold medal at the

2007 South Pacific Games The 13th South Pacific Games (), also known as Apia 2007, were held from 25 August to 8 September 2007 in Apia, Samoa. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional multi ...

She was player/coach for Fiji at the

2007 Netball World 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 the ...

. Davu faced criticism for her performances at the tournament. She admitted her fitness and conditioning wasn't what it should have been, but emphasized she was only a late inclusion in the squad after visa issues ruled out some of the other members.

Employment

Davu has worked as a recruitment consultant for Coverstaff 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 ...

Honours

Playing career

;

World Netball Championships The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and the New ...

**''Winners'':

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

**''Winners'':

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

**''Runners Up'':

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

;

Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continent, continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 South Pacific Games, 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently i ...

**''Winners'':

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

**''Runners Up'':

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

; Canterbury Flames * Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup **''Runners Up'': 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 ; Northern Force *

**''Runners Up'': 2007

Coaching career

;

**''Winners'':

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

;Individual Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davu, Vilimaina 1977 births Living people Fijian netball players New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players New Zealand netball coaches Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games gold medallists in netball Commonwealth Games silver medallists in netball Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games 1999 World Netball Championships players 2003 World Netball Championships players 2007 World Netball Championships players Northern Mystics players ANZ Championship players Canterbury Flames players Northern Force players New Zealand people of I-Taukei Fijian descent Sportspeople from Nadi Pacific Games gold medalists for Fiji Pacific Games silver medalists for Fiji Pacific Games bronze medalists for Fiji