Lauren Burgess (born 24 November 1986 in

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

, New Zealand) is a

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 ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. She plays in the

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position for the Manawatu Cyclones, and for New Zealand's national women's sevens team.

Rugby union career

Her transition back to rugby was with the Stratford club, after they decided to field a team in the Manawatu club competition. It didn't take long for her talent to be recognised - she was selected in the Manawatu rep side as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

before a back injury sidelined her for the season. She came back strongly and set her sights on making the national women's sevens squad. After being identified as a long-term prospect, she attended several training camps before being named in the squad to travel to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

for the inaugural IRB women's world series tournament. Burgess was then selected and named captain in the Taranaki women's sevens side to compete in a regional tournament in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

. She was also one of three Taranaki representatives who had been selected in the New Zealand Go4Gold programme set up to identify potential talent ahead of the

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

Olympics in 2016.

Netball career

Together with older sister Erica, Burgess excelled at netball from the outset, moving through the representative grades at high school before eventually being named captain of the New Zealand secondary schools squad in 2004, a side that contained such illustrious names as

Maria Tutaia Solonaima Maria Folau (née Tuta'ia; born 18 February 1987 in Tokoroa, New Zealand) is a retired New Zealand netball player. She played regularly for the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns. Early life Folau was born Solonaima M ...

and

Cathrine Latu Cathrine Tuivaiti (née Latu; born 25 October 1986 in West Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand netball player of Tongan, Samoan, and Māori descent. Career Early career Cathrine Tuivaiti was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Schools ...

. From there the midcourter became a regular fixture in the now defunct

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 ...

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 ...

, before being signed with the

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that r ...

for the inaugural season of 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 ...

. After the Pulse failed to win a game in 2008, the team roster was overhauled and she was not signed for the 2009 season. Burgess nevertheless received a call-up to the

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 ...

bench in Round 2 that year as a temporary replacement for the injured

Megan Hutton Megan Hutton (born 26 March 1976 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand retired netball player. Hutton normally plays in the goal keeper position. She also played basketball for Southland. Hutton debuted in the Coca-Cola Cup (later the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Lauren New Zealand netball players Southern Steel players Central Pulse players Rugby union players from New Plymouth Living people 1986 births New Zealand female rugby union players Female rugby sevens players ANZ Championship players People educated at Inglewood High School, New Zealand Western Flyers players