Ethel Isabella Divers (formerly Helean, née Howard; 4 September 1915 – 28 May 2014) was a 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 was a member of the New Zealand team in their first Test match, in 1938 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

Divers was born Ethel Isabella Howard on 4 September 1915. She was educated at

Waitaki Girls' High School "Satisfaction from hard work" , established = 1887; years ago , principal = Elizabeth Koni , address = Trent Street, Oamaru, New Zealand , coordinates = , type = State, Girls, Secondary years 9-13 , roll = () , decile ...

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

, where she represented the school in tennis.

Netball career

Domestic

Howard played representative netball for Otago in 1936 and 1937, and was named in the South Island team. In 1937, she also played for Wellington, where she was training as a dental nurse, and gained North Island honours. In 1938, she was described as a "fast elusive forward, and an accurate shot".

International

In 1936, Howard was first selected to tour Australia with a New Zealand national team the following season, but the tour did not proceed. In 1938, she was once again selected for the New Zealand netball team, when a national side travelled to Australia and competed in the Australian interstate tournament in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. At times, the New Zealand team struggled as the matches were played on grass courts under Australian rules, which differed from those used in New Zealand at the time. Howard played in an exhibition match played under New Zealand rules, in which the New Zealand team beat Victoria 19–5. Howard played in the single Test match, the first played between New Zealand and Australia, in Melbourne on 20 August 1938. New Zealand were defeated 11–40. The match was played under Australian rules.

Later life

Howard worked as a school dental nurse. On 14 February 1944, she married William Brindley Helean at St Matthew's Church in

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 ...

. William Helean served as a colonial administrator and public servant in East Africa. Ethel Helean later remarried. She died in Dunedin on 28 May 2014, aged 98.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Divers, Ethel 1915 births 2014 deaths People educated at Waitaki Girls' High School New Zealand international netball players Dental nurses