Azalea Marguerite Sinclair (née Clark; born 15 August 1930) is a former 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. She played as goal shoot in the New Zealand team in their second Test match, in 1948 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Early life

Sinclair was born Azalea Marguerite Clark on 15 August 1930, and grew up in the Kaiapoi area, north of

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 / ...

Netball career

Clark was a member of the Canterbury provincial netball team, playing in the forward third of the court. In 1949, she was described as showing "amazing skill at shooting", and was reported as combining well with her fellow attacking players. In 1948, Clark was selected in the New Zealand national team for the first Test against the touring Australian team at

Forbury Park Forbury Park Raceway was a horseracing venue in the New Zealand city of Dunedin until its closure in 2021. It was located close to the Pacific Ocean coast in the suburb of Saint Kilda. The raceway was initially developed in 1870 on an area of ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. The match was played under international rules, with seven players per side, which were unfamiliar to the New Zealanders who were used to playing nine-a-side. The Australian team was victorious, winning 27–16. The match was the only occasion on which Clark represented New Zealand, because the New Zealand side for the three-Test series was selected on a regional basis.

Later life

In about 1956, Clark married Ian McKay Sinclair, a

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, 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, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

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 ...

cricket representative. Ian Sinclair died in 2019. In 2018, Azalea Sinclair appeared at a netball Test match between New Zealand and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in Tauranga, tossing the coin before the start of the game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Azalea 1930 births Living people People from Kaiapoi New Zealand international netball players New Zealand netball players Sportspeople from Canterbury, New Zealand