Janine Claire Ilitch (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Lynch; born 27 January 1972) is an Australian
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 an
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
scholarship holder in 1993.
Ilitch was born in
Mordialloc
Mordialloc is a beachside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Mordialloc recorded a population of 8,886 at the . ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. She has been a frequent member of the
Australian national team, playing in her usual positions of goal keeper and goal defence, since being first selected in 1995. Ilitch has also been a key member of the
Melbourne Kestrels
Melbourne Kestrels were an Australian netball team that represented Netball Victoria in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. Between 1997 and 2007, together with Melbourne Phoenix, they were one of two teams to represent Netball Victoria in the Comm ...
in the
Commonwealth Bank Trophy
The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...
ever since the competition's founding in 1997, and served a stint as captain in 2004.
After years of playing second-fiddle to accomplished defenders
Kathryn Harby-Williams
Kathryn Harby-Williams (born 16 July 1969) is an Australian netball player and television presenter. She captained the Australian netball team.
Harby-Williams currently works with Radio Sport New Zealand and is a Sky TV commentator for Sky S ...
and
Liz Ellis
Elizabeth Margaret Ellis, (born 17 January 1973) is a retired Australian netball player, a member of the national team from 1992 until 2007 and captain for the last four of those years. She is the most capped international player for Australian ...
, Ilitch finally cracked the Australian starting-seven in November 2004, where her combination with Australian captain Ellis played a major role in Australia's series victory against New Zealand. This combination was never to reach its true potential, when Ilitch took the 2005 season off due to being pregnant with her second child,
and Ellis withdrew from the Australian team with a knee injury upon Ilitch's return. Ilitch won a place in Australia's silver-winning Commonwealth games team in 2006. After playing limited games with the Melbourne Kestrels in the 2006 Commonwealth Bank Trophy season, Ilitch announced her retirement.
References
1972 births
Living people
Melbourne Kestrels players
Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia
Australian Institute of Sport netball players
Commonwealth Games medallists in netball
Australia international netball players
Melbourne Phoenix players
Monash University alumni
Netball players from Melbourne
Esso/Mobil Superleague players
1999 World Netball Championships players
2003 World Netball Championships players
20th-century Australian women
21st-century Australian women
People from Mordialloc, Victoria
Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
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