Anna Galvan (née Veronese; born 20 November 1978 in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand) is a retired New Zealand

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.

Domestic career

Galvan had a long netball career, spanning 17 years. During this time she played for two

National Bank Cup The National Bank Cup was the pre-eminent national netball competition in New Zealand between 1998 and 2007. From 2008, it was replaced by the ANZ Championship. Format In the rounds, each team played every other team once, then the top four teams ...

franchises as a defender, with the

Canterbury Flames Canterbury Flames were a New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007 they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. In 2008, when the National Bank Cup was replaced by the ANZ Championship, Ca ...

(1997–2002) and the

Southern Sting The Southern Sting were a netball team based in Invercargill, New Zealand that competed in the National Bank Cup competition, formerly known as the Coca-Cola Cup. The Southern Sting team won the National Bank Cup seven times and are the only tea ...

(2003–2006). She was a key defender in the champion Southern Sting's success as well as performing for her original Flames. However, she had a break from netball at the end of the 2006 season to have her second child and a third child was born in 2008. Galvan was enticed to return to top-level competition by signing with the

Canterbury Tactix Mainland Tactix are a New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007, as Canterbury Flames, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championsh ...

for the 2010 season of the ANZ Championship. She retired from all netball at the completion of the 2014 ANZ championship Season.

International netball

Galvan has had previous international netball experience including being part of the Silver Ferns from 2002 to 2003. She competed at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester where the Silver Ferns lost the Gold Medal match to Australia in heartbreaking fashion, losing in double extra time. Falling pregnant just after the 2002 Commonwealth Games meant that she had to pull out of the Silver Ferns team going to the Netball World Cup, being replaced by

Leana de Bruin Leana de Bruin (née du Plooy) (born 9 July 1977) is a South African and New Zealand international netball player. De Bruin played 34 tests for South Africa before moving to New Zealand in 2000. She made her on-court debut for the Silver Ferns i ...

who retained the position. Galvan was also part of the New Zealand Under 21 team who went to the World Youth Cup in Canada in 1996, coming second to Australia in the final. She was part of the NZU21's from 1995 - 1998 and the New Zealand A Team in 2000, 2001, 2004 (Captain) and 2005.

Family

Anna and her husband Hugh Galvan have three children. Her eldest, Isabella, is following in her mother's footsteps in competitive netball.

References

New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players Mainland Tactix players Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand 1978 births Living people ANZ Championship players Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Netball players from Christchurch Southern Sting players Canterbury Flames players Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-netball-bio-stub