Leana de Bruin (née du Plooy) (born 9 July 1977) is a South African and
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 ...
international
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. De Bruin played 34 tests for
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
before moving to New Zealand in 2000. She made her on-court debut 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 National symbols of New Zealand, ...
in 2003, and has gone on to represent New Zealand at the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
and
Netball World Championships
The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by the World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and t ...
, playing in the goal defence and goal keeper positions. In 2009, she pulled out of the team due to pregnancy, before returning the following year.
De Bruin played for the
Southern Sting
The Southern Sting were a netball team based in Invercargill, New Zealand that competed in the National Bank Cup competition, formerly known as the Coca-Cola Cup.
The Southern Sting team won the National Bank Cup seven times and are the only tea ...
,
Capital Shakers
Capital Shakers are a former New Zealand netball team that were based in Wellington. Between 1998 and 2007, Shakers played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2000 and 2002, Shakers were semi-finalists three years in success ...
,
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 ...
and the
Northern Force
Northern Force are a former New Zealand netball team based in North Harbour, North Shore, Auckland Region. As a result, they were also known as either North Harbour Force or North Shore Force. Between 1998 and 2007, Force played in the Coc ...
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 ...
. With the start 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 ...
in 2008, de Bruin stayed in Auckland with the new
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 ...
franchise. The following year, she returned to the Magic in Hamilton, partnering in the defensive circle with Silver Ferns teammate
Casey Williams. De Bruin played most of the 2009 round-robin season before pulling out due to pregnancy. She returned to competitive netball the following year, signing with 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 ...
for the 2010 season, before returning to the Magic in 2012 for the remainder of the ANZ Championship.
She announced that she would retire from international netball in July 2016. Domestically, she signed with the
Northern Stars
Northern Stars are a New Zealand netball team based in South Auckland. Since 2017 they have competed in the ANZ Premiership. The team was named after the Matariki star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. They were grand finalist ...
for the
inaugural season of the new
ANZ Premiership
The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netball ...
, delaying her retirement from all forms of the game. She signed with Australian club
Adelaide Thunderbirds
Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in ...
for the
2018 Suncorp Super Netball season. She was named captain of the Thunderbirds prior to the start of the season. de Brun was captain at a difficult time for the club, as the Thunderbirds went winless for the entire season. She then returned to the Northern Stars for the 2019 season, extending her career beyond 17 years.
References
External links
2011 Silver Ferns profile2010 Southern Steel profile2010 ANZ Championship profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Bruin, Leana
1977 births
Living people
South African netball players
New Zealand netball players
New Zealand international netball players
Commonwealth Games medallists in netball
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand
Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Netball players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Netball players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
2003 World Netball Championships players
2007 World Netball Championships players
2011 World Netball Championships players
2015 Netball World Cup players
Adelaide Thunderbirds players
Northern Stars players
Southern Steel players
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic players
Northern Mystics players
Northern Force players
Capital Shakers players
ANZ Championship players
ANZ Premiership players
South African expatriate netball people in New Zealand
South African expatriate netball people in Australia
New Zealand expatriate netball people in Australia
People from Bethlehem, Free State
Southern Sting players
New Zealand international Fast5 players
Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games