Ainsleyana Puleiata (born 23 July 2000) is a

Samoan New Zealander Samoan New Zealanders are Samoan immigrants in New Zealand, their descendants, and New Zealanders of Samoan ethnic descent. They constitute one of New Zealand's most sizeable ethnic minorities. In the 2018 census, 182,721 New Zealanders identifie ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

player who has represented

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

internationally. She plays for the

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that r ...

. Puleiata is from

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

and was educated at Windley School and

St Mary's College, Wellington St Mary's College Wellington is situated in the suburb of Thorndon in Wellington, New Zealand. The school is a state-integrated all-girls Catholic secondary school for years 9–13. History The school, which is one of the oldest existing scho ...

. She later studied at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, and in 2021 was named their Pasifika Sportsperson of the Year. Puleiata played both rugby and netball at school, and in 2017 signed for netball team

Central Manawa Central Manawa are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Since 2016 they have represented Netball Central in the National Netball League. Netball Central is the governing body that represents the Hawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui, T ...

. In January 2018 she was selected to be part of the rugby sevens training squad for

2018 Summer Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud de 2018), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international sports, cultural, and educational event held ...

. In 2018 she suffered a knee injury while playing rugby which ruled her out for the entire year. In November 2018 she was named captain of the Central Manawa team for the 2019 season, but damaged the same knee in a pre-season match, requiring further time off. In September 2020 she was named to the New Zealand under-21 netball training squad for the 2021

Netball World Youth Cup Previously known as the World Youth Netball Championships, the Netball World Youth Cup (since 2017) is the world championships of netball for national U21 teams, with all players being aged 21 years or younger. As part of the Australian Bicentena ...

. She was also named to the 2021 Central Manawa team. In June 2022 she was selected for the

. In July 2022 she was selected to the

Samoa national netball team The Samoa national netball team or ''Tifa Moana'' represent Samoa in international netball tests and competitions. The team are coached by Marcia Hardcastle and are co-captained by Opheira Harder-Karatau and Julianna Naoupu. As of 21 July 2019, Sam ...

for the 2023 Netball World Cup Oceania qualifiers. On July 18 2022 she was named team captain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puleiata, Ainsleyana Living people 2000 births People from Porirua People educated at St Mary's College, Wellington New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Samoan netball players New Zealand netball players Central Pulse players National Netball League (New Zealand) players Central Manawa players ANZ Premiership players