Jenny-May Clarkson (born Jenny-May Coffin; 9 April 1974) is 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, sports commentator and television presenter. Clarkson previously played for 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, for which she was the vice-captain in 2001. She also played for the

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic are a New Zealand netball team based in Hamilton. Between 1999 and 2007, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017, Magic have ...

in the

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 ...

between 1998–2004 and the

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 ...

in 2007; she also played one season in the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

in 2008 for the

Southern Steel Southern Steel are a netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 ANZ Championship season, 2008 and 2016 ANZ Championship season, 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 ANZ Premiership seas ...

, and was signed to play with the

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

in 2010. Since 2005, Clarkson has been a sports commentator and news presenter for TVNZ and

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

. She currently co-hosts ''Breakfast'' with Matty Mclean and Indira Stewart.

Early life

Jenny-May Coffin was born in Te Kuiti, New Zealand. She was the youngest of six children raised by Waka and Paddy Coffin in Piopio, close to Mokaukohunui

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

. Her father's parents were Charlie Coffin, a Pakeha, and Harata, a Maori.

International netball

Jenny-May Coffin played for the Silver Ferns from 1997–2002. She was vice-captain in 2001, and represented the Silver Ferns at the

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 ...

. She made 26 caps for the Ferns before retiring from international netball at the end of 2002.

Domestic netball

Jenny-May Coffin has been playing in New Zealand domestic netball leagues since 1995 and the National Bank Cup since 1998. She started playing for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic in 1998 and in 2000 was appointed captain. She left the Magic in 2004, going into retirement and worked as a sports presenter on TVNZ. She returned to netball in 2006 and played in the National Championships before playing in the Auckland Diamonds as captain in 2007. With the National Bank Cup replaced by the

in 2008, Coffin was signed with the

on a two-year contract. However, she pulled out of the team after the first season to focus on her television career. Coffin announced her return to competitive netball in October 2009, signing with the Northern Mystics for the 2010 ANZ Championship season.

Broadcasting

Clarkson first joined TVNZ in 2005 as the netball commentator for the National Bank Cup on

ONE Sport TVNZ Sport is a division of TVNZ which airs many of the sports telecasts in New Zealand. TVNZ Sport broadcasts programs like ''The Championships, Wimbledon'', ''Commonwealth Games'', and the '' America's Cup''. TVNZ Sport was originally know ...

. In March of that year she was announced as the weekend sports presenter and sports producer during the weekdays. In 2006, she regained her role on ONE Sport and she rejoined the netball commentating team. In 2007, she played for the Auckland Diamonds netball team. She presented sport on TV One on Mondays and Tuesdays, and commentated some National Bank Cup games. She was a news presenter on

TVNZ 7 TVNZ 7 was a commercial-free New Zealand 24-hour news and information channel on Freeview digital television platform and on Sky Television from 1 July 2009. It was produced by Television New Zealand, which received Government funding to launc ...

before TVNZ dropped the station. Clarkson replaced

Daniel Faitaua Daniel Faitaua (born 11 May 1976) is a New Zealand television news reporter of Samoan descent. He was the ''1 News'' Europe correspondent, based in London, from 2019 to 2022 and was previously newsreader on '' Breakfast'' and ''1 News At Midday ...

as the news presenter on ''Breakfast'' on TVNZ 1 in September 2019. In August 2020 she succeeded

Hayley Holt Hayley Doreen Holt (born 3 July 1980) is a New Zealand television presenter and former snowboarder and ballroom dancer, who presents sports news on 1 News At 6pm. She co-presented TVNZ ''Breakfast'' from 2018 to 2020 alongside Jack Tame and l ...

as co-presenter, alongside John Campbell.

Controversy

In April 2018 after the

failed to qualify for a medal at the Commonwealth Games, the broadcasters remarks about having pride in the black dress to the current captain Katrina Rore were commented as being too harsh

Personal life

Clarkson married Dean Clarkson in 2015; the couple had twin sons in 2016.

References

External links

2010 Northern Mystics profile2010 ANZ Championship profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Jenny May 1974 births Living people New Zealand netball players New Zealand television presenters New Zealand international netball players Northern Mystics players Southern Steel players Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic players Auckland Diamonds players ANZ Championship players Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand New Zealand Māori netball players Sportspeople from Te Kuiti Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games New Zealand women television presenters New Zealand netball commentators Northern Mystics coaches National Bank Cup players