April Ieremia (born 31 October 1967) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

former

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 and television host.

Netball career

April Ieremia was a New Zealand attacking player from

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 Rive ...

who represented

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

from 1983–1992. In 1985 she made the Young Internationals before being selected for New Zealand Under 21 in 1986 and then again in 1988 at the inaugural World Youth Cup. At 20, Ieremia represented the

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern ('' Cyathea dealbata''), which is an emblem for many New Zealand ...

(New Zealand's national netball team) from 1988–1990 and again in 1992.

Sports Presenting career

In 1993, after retiring from international netball, Ieremia co-hosted the magazine sports show, ''Moro SportsExtra'' on TVNZ with Greg Clark,

Stu Wilson Stu Wilson (born 22 July 1954, in Gore) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played for Wellington and New Zealand, captaining the national team in the 1983 tour of Scotland and England. He played with the All Blacks The New Z ...

Jeff Crowe Jeffrey John Crowe (born 14 September 1958) is a former New Zealand cricketer. He played Test and One Day International cricket for New Zealand from 1983 to 1990, and first-class cricket for South Australia and then Auckland. He has been an IC ...

and Brent Todd. She became the main sports anchor for ONE NEWS from 1994 until 2003. In 1994, she presented for ONE Sport hosting at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games,

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''( Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unpreceden ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

and

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Ieremia was the face of netball for ONE Sport hosting national and international netball competitions from 1995 including the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and 2003 Netball World Championships, the regional

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 ...

, Fisher and Paykel test Internationals and National Provincial Championships. In 2002, Ieremia hosted ASB Tennis Classic international in Auckland featuring

Anna Kournikova Anna Sergeyevna Kournikova ( rus, Анна Сергеевна Курникова, p=ˈanːə sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvnə ˈkurnʲɪkəvə, a=Anna_kournikova.ogg; born 7 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player and American televisi ...

and the men's Heinekin Open with

Marat Safin Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...

and Goran Ivanisevic. From 1994–2003, Ieremia co-hosted the Halberg Sports Awards. In 1997, Ieremia won the coveted Qantas Award for Best Presenter. She finished sports presenting in December, 2003.

General career

Ieremia hosted a number of major television specials like the 'Opening of Te Papa', 'The Big Jump' and the TV2 show, ''April's Angels,'' in 1997 and 1998. In 2001, Ieremia joined

The Radio Network New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Ne ...

(TRN) as a breakfast show radio host with Mark Leishman on "Easy Listening i". Returning to television in 2007, she joined the

Living Channel Living is a New Zealand television station. The channel focuses entirely on programming relating to lifestyle and is similar to The LifeStyle Channel in Australia or HGTV in the US. It broadcasts on Sky in New Zealand and features local progr ...

and Food TV on Sky TV. April hosted a television talk show on SKY TV's The Living Channel called '' April in the Afternoon''. The show started on 1 April 2008. She also developed her career behind the scenes in production and sponsorship in programmes for Food TV, the Living Channel and Eyeworks NZ. In 2012, Ieremia joined the new lifestyle channel

Choice TV Eden (stylized as eden and formerly known as Choice TV) is a privately owned, national free-to-air television channel in New Zealand and has been on air since 2012. The channel features programs on topics such as: lifestyle, news, travel, reali ...

as a presenter and producer. Ieremia co-hosted a Choice TV daily chat show called ''

Brunch Brunch is a meal eaten between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sometimes accompanied by alcoholic drinks (typically champagne or a cocktail). The meal originated in the British hunt breakfast. The word ''brunch'' is a portmanteau of '' breakfast'' ...

'' with Josh Kronfeld in 2012. Ieremia also began working with HGTV (Home and Garden TV) in 2016.

Personal life

Born in

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

Western 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 and Apolima); ...

, April moved to Christchurch with her family in 1970. In Canterbury, she developed her deep love of sport and in particular, netball which has laid the foundation for most of her career as a player, broadcaster and coach. She graduated from the University of Canterbury with a BA in History and a Diploma of Teaching at the Christchurch College of Education in 1991. She taught at Avonside Girls School in Christchurch before moving to Auckland for a career in television. In 2012, Ieremia published her first book, "April Loses It" on weight loss, which went on to feature on the best seller list for 4 weeks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ieremia, April New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players New Zealand television personalities Sportspeople from Apia 1967 births Living people People educated at Linwood College Netball players at the 1989 World Games Christchurch College of Education alumni

Netball career

Sports Presenting career

General career

Personal life

See also

References