Counties Manukau Cometz, are a former New Zealand netball team that were based in

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Cometz represented the Counties Manukau/ Thames Valley regions of

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

and, as a result, were also known as CMTV Cometz. Between 1998 and 2003, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league.

History

Inaugural season

In 1998, together with

Auckland Diamonds The Auckland Diamonds were a regional netball team which represented Auckland- Waitakere and Counties Manukau Netball in New Zealand's National Bank Cup. For the 2008 ANZ Championship the Diamonds merged with the Northern Force to create the Northe ...

, Bay of Plenty Magic,

Capital Shakers Capital Shakers are a former New Zealand netball team that were based in Wellington. Between 1998 and 2007, Shakers played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2000 and 2002, Shakers were semi-finalists three years in success ...

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 ...

Northern Force Northern Force are a former New Zealand netball team based in North Harbour, North Shore, Auckland Region. As a result, they were also known as either North Harbour Force or North Shore Force. Between 1998 and 2007, Force played in the Coca ...

Otago Rebels The Otago Rebels was a New Zealand netball team which represented Otago in the National Bank Cup. Otago Rebels were the first team to win the inaugural (what was then known as) Coca-Cola Cup. In 2008, the Rebels were merged with Southern Sting to ...

, Waikato Wildcats,

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 ...

and

Western Flyers The Western Flyers were a New Zealand netball team which represented most of the Central, Southern and Eastern North Island in the National Bank Cup. The team was formed in 1998 and played all ten seasons of the competition. At the end of the 20 ...

, Cometz were founding members of the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Cometz represented the Counties Manukau/ Thames Valley regions of

and, as a result, were also known as CMTV Cometz. Their first head coach was future

New Zealand national netball team 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 s ...

head coach

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. Aitken was born in 1956 in Paeroa. Her paren ...

Six seasons

Between 1998 and 2003, Cometz played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Together with

and

, Cometz were one of three teams from the

Auckland Region Auckland () is one of the sixteen regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland Metropolitan Area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf. Containing ...

to play in the league. Due to poor ticket sales, the three teams faced early suggestions that they should merge. Cometz also found themselves competing for players against Diamonds, Force and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic. Cometz enjoyed a local rivalry with Diamonds. In the six seasons the teams played against each other, Diamonds won four and Cometz won two.

Demise

After losing 80–29 to

in a 2003 Round 1 match, Cometz began to face calls for them to drop out of the league. In May 2003, following an independent report on the league by

Price Waterhouse Coopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

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 the co ...

confirmed that Cometz would be dropped from the league.

Legacy

In 2017 the Comets named was revived when Northern Comets began competing in the National Netball League. Comets are effectively the reserve team of Northern Stars, who represent

in the ANZ Premiership. During the

2022 ANZ Premiership season The 2022 ANZ Premiership season was the sixth season of Netball New Zealand's ANZ Premiership. With a team coached by Yvette McCausland-Durie, co-captained by Kelly Jury and Tiana Metuarau and featuring Aliyah Dunn, Erikana Pedersen and Whitne ...

, Stars paid tribute to Counties Manukau Cometz by wearing a replica of their famous dress during their Heritage Round match against Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.

Home venues

Cometz played the majority of their home matches at

's Allan Brewster Stadium.

Notable former players

Internationals

; *

Temepara George Temepara Anne Bailey (formerly Clark, née George; born 23 October 1975 in Auckland) is a New Zealand international netball player of Samoan and Māori descent. She was a member of the Silver Ferns national squad in 1996, and from 2000–2011 ...

* Carron Jerram * Gael Nagaiya * Ana Noovao *

Lorna Suafoa Lorna Tomasone Suafoa (born 7 October 1975 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand international netball representative, who played in the Silver Ferns team that won a silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Sinc ...

; *

; * Ana Noovao

ANZ Premiership coaches

Yvette McCausland-Durie Yvette McCausland-Durie is a New Zealand netball coach and former netball player. As a player, she played for Western Flyers during the National Bank Cup era and represented New Zealand at under-21 level. She was a member of the New Zealand te ...

* Mary-Jane Araroa

Others

Cushla Lichtwark Cushla Myra Arama Lichtwark (born 29 November 1980) is a New Zealand netball player and association footballer. Career She played netball in the ANZ Championship for the Central Pulse since the inaugural season of the Wellington-based in 2008, ...

, New Zealand women's football international

Captains

Coaches

Head coaches

Assistant coaches

References

{{NationalBankCupTrophyTeams Defunct netball teams in New Zealand National Bank Cup teams Netball teams in Auckland Sports clubs and teams established in 1998 1998 establishments in New Zealand Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2003 2003 disestablishments in New Zealand