Kate Alexandra Heffernan (born 7 October 1999) is a New Zealand netball international and former

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. She represented the

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 ...

at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

and the

2023 Netball World Cup The 2023 Netball World Cup will be the sixteenth staging of the premier competition in international netball, contested every four years. The tournament will be held from Friday, 28 July to Sunday, 6 August at the International Convention Centre ...

. She captained New Zealand at the 2024 Netball Nations Cup. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, she also made two appearances for the

New Zealand women's national cricket team The New Zealand women's national cricket team, nicknamed the White Ferns, represents New Zealand in international women's cricket. One of eight teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship (the highest level of international women's cricket ...

. Heffernan comes from a family of netball internationals: at the 2024 Netball Nations Cup, herself and her sister, Georgia Heffernan, became the third set of sisters to play international netball for New Zealand. Her mother,

Annette Heffernan Annette Heffernan is a former List of New Zealand international netball players, New Zealand netball international. Between 1985 and 1990, she made nine senior appearances for New Zealand national netball team, New Zealand. She was a member of ...

and her aunt,

Maxine Blomquist Maxine Blomquist (born 13 March 1956) is a former List of New Zealand international netball players, New Zealand netball international. Between 1974 and 1982, she made 31 senior appearances for New Zealand national netball team, New Zealand. Sh ...

, were the first set. However, the Heffernan sisters are the first sisters to actually play in the same team at the same time. A cousin,

Shirley Langrope Shirley Anne Langrope (born 15 November 1945) is a former New Zealand netball international. Between 1969 and 1975, she made 19 senior appearances for New Zealand. She was a member of the New Zealand team that won a silver medal at the 1971 W ...

, was also a New Zealand netball international. As well as playing netball together for New Zealand, the Heffernan sisters have played together in several teams, including the Southern Steel netball team and the Otago Sparks women's cricket team.

Early life, family and education

Heffernan is the daughter of Noel and

. Her mother, her aunt,

, her sister, Georgia Heffernan and a cousin,

, are all New Zealand netball internationals. Her father played rugby union for Canterbury Country. The Heffernan family live on their sheep and beef farm, near

Tapanui Tapanui is a small town in West Otago in New Zealand's South Island, close to the boundary with Southland region. It is a forestry town at the foot of the Blue Mountains and the Pomahaka River. Popular pastimes include deer stalking and trout ...

West Otago West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

. The Heffernan sisters attended Tapanui's Blue Mountain College and

St Hilda's Collegiate School Saint Hilda's Collegiate School is a secondary school for girls in Dunedin, New Zealand. History Founded as an Anglican school in 1896 by the first bishop of Dunedin, Bishop Samuel Nevill and staffed by the Sisters of the Church. The sisters wi ...

. Kate attended the University of Otago, where she studied psychology.

Cricket

Early years

Heffernan represented Otago at under-15 and under-16 levels. She and Georgia Heffernan also won national titles representing

Otago Sparks

Between 2016 and 2019, Heffernan played as a left-arm

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

bowler for

Otago Sparks The Otago Sparks is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Otago and the surrounding area. They play their home games at University Oval, Dunedin. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competit ...

. She played 28 matches for Sparks. She was a member of the Sparks team that won the

2016–17 New Zealand Women's Twenty20 Competition The 2016–17 New Zealand Women's Twenty20 Competition was the tenth season of the women's Twenty20 cricket competition played in New Zealand. It ran from November 2016 to February 2017, with 6 provincial teams taking part. Otago Sparks beat Can ...

. In the final against

Canterbury Magicians The Canterbury Magicians is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Canterbury. They play their home games at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the W ...

, Heffernan took 4–21 off her four overs. Her 2018 Sparks team mates included her sister, Georgia Heffernan.

New Zealand

In February 2018, Heffernan was called up to play for

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 ...

. She subsequently made two

women's Twenty20 international Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twent ...

appearances. On 16 March 2018 she made her

WT20I Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twe ...

debut against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

during their

tour of New Zealand The Women's Tour of New Zealand is a stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race co ...

. On 20 March 2018 she made a second appearance against the same opponents.

Netball

St Hilda's

In 2016 and 2017, the Heffernan sisters were members of the

team that won back-to-back

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

secondary school netball titles. 2016 was the first time St Hilda's had reached the final five stage and final of the tournament. In 2016 the St Hilda's team assistant coach was their mother,

Netball South

Between 2017 and 2019, the Heffernan sisters played for Netball South in the National Netball League. Ahead of the

season, while playing for Netball South, they were also named as training partners for

Southern Steel Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that re ...

Southern Steel

Since

, Heffernan has played for

. On 11 June 2018, she made her senior debut for Steel in a

Round 6 Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the numbe ...

match against

Mainland Tactix Mainland Tactix are a netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007, as Canterbury Flames, they played in the National Bank Cup, Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cu ...

. She joined Steel as a replacement for an injured Dani Gray and received a contract for the remainder of the season. She was a fringe member of the Steel team that won the 2018 ANZ Premiership. However, she subsequently established herself as senior member of the Steel team. She initially played for Steel at wing defence before switching to centre for the

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season. Her sister, Georgia Heffernan, also plays for Steel. ;ANZ Premiership statistics , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

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New Zealand

In August 2021, Heffernan was included in the 2021–22

squad. She was subsequently included in the squad for the

2021 Taini Jamison Trophy Series The 2021 Taini Jamison Trophy Series, also known as the 2021 Cadbury Netball Series, was the 12th Taini Jamison Trophy series. It featured New Zealand playing England in three netball test matches, played in September 2021. All three tests we ...

, but didn't get on court. On 12 October 2021, she made her unofficial debut for New Zealand against Aotearoa Men. She was included in the

squad and, on 30 July 2022, she eventually made her senior debut in New Zealand's opening match against

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. In just her sixth test, she helped New Zealand win the bronze medal. She went on to represent New Zealand at the

and was named Midcourter of the Tournament. Ahead of the 2024 Netball Nations Cup, Heffernan was named vice-captain to Phoenix Karaka. During the tournament Georgia Heffernan made her senior debut for New Zealand 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 ...

. The Heffernan sisters now became the third set of sisters to play international netball for New Zealand. The first set were their mother and aunt,

and

. However, the Heffernan sisters are the first sisters to actually play in the same team at the same time. On 22 January 2024, Heffernan captained New Zealand in the match against

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Honours

Netball

;

* Taini Jamison Trophy **''Winners'':

;

* ANZ Premiership **''Winners'':

Cricket

;

Women's Super Smash The Women's Super Smash, known for sponsorship reasons as the Dream11 Super Smash, is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition organised by New Zealand Cricket. The competition began in 2007–08 and features six teams, who play each other twice ...

**''Winners'': 2016–17

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heffernan, Kate 1999 births Living people New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players Netball players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games 2023 Netball World Cup players New Zealand women Twenty20 International cricketers New Zealand women cricketers Otago Sparks cricketers Southern Steel players ANZ Premiership players National Netball League (New Zealand) players Sportspeople from Invercargill Kate People educated at St Hilda's Collegiate School University of Otago alumni New Zealand twins