Elizabeth Margaret Ellis, (born 17 January 1973) is a retired 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, a member of the national team from 1992 until 2007 and

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the last four of those years. She is the most capped international player for Australian netball. Liz Ellis was inducted to the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

in 2006.

Early life and education

Ellis was born in

Windsor, New South Wales Windsor is a historic town north-west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the council seat of the Hawkesbury local government area. The town sits on the Hawkesbury River, enveloped by farmland and Australian bush. Many of the oldest sur ...

, on 17 January 1973. After attending Holy Family High School and finishing the last two years of secondary education at John Paul II Senior High School (now known as St Andrew's College), Ellis attended the

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 ...

on a netball scholarship. She also completed a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

while she worked her way up the ranks of Australian netball.

Netball career

After attending the AIS in 1991–1992, Ellis made her debut for the Australian Netball Team in July 1993 against Wales. It was the 1995 World Championships in Birmingham where she stamped her mark on the international netball scene with a sterling performance in the grand final against South Africa. She went on to be a mainstay of the Australian Netball Team, participating in the 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007 World Championships and the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games. She was named Vice-Captain of the team in 2000 and Captain in 2004 and broke the record for the highest number of tests played for Australia in 2005. She was named Australian Netball's Most Valued Player on four occasions – 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2006. Ellis became the captain of the

Sydney Swifts Sydney Swifts were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2007, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Sandpipers and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of three te ...

in 2000. She was the captain for their team in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007

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 ...

premierships. She played her entire domestic career for the Swifts and holds the record for the most games played in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy (173). In October 2005, Ellis suffered a career-threatening knee injury in a match against New Zealand in Auckland. She defied the critics by making a full recovery from a full knee reconstruction and producing some of the best netball of her career in the two years that followed. Ellis announced her retirement from netball on 19 November 2007, two days after leading Australia to a World Championship victory over New Zealand. Since her retirement, Ellis has been a netball commentator, working initially for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

and

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

during their coverage 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 ...

and Australian Diamonds test matches. She moved to the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

when it picked up the rights to the

Suncorp Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

league, and became a regular panellist on the network's weekly

Sports Sunday ''Sports Sunday'' is an Australian sports television program currently broadcast on the Nine Network at 10.00am Sunday mornings. The show is hosted by journalist Roz Kelly, with a roster of rotating panelists including former Australian cricket c ...

program. In January 2018 Ellis became an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AO) for "distinguished service to netball as an elite player and coach, through support and advocacy for young women, as a contributor to the broadcast and print media industries, and to the community". In recognition of her outstanding career, since 2008 the highest individual accolade awarded to an Australian netball athlete has been the annual

Liz Ellis Diamond The following is a list notable Australian netball international players who have represented the national team in international tournaments such as the Commonwealth Games, the Netball World Cup, the World Games, the Constellation Cup, the Net ...

. In 2019, she was inducted into Hall of Fame at

Australian Women's Health Sport Awards Australian Women's Health Women in Sport Awards were first awarded in 2011. The awards were established by the Australian Women's Health Magazine to recognise the achievements of Australian women in sport. The awards are the main awards for Australi ...

Personal life

On 31 March 2011, Ellis announced that she was pregnant. On 28 September 2011, she gave birth to her first child, Evelyn Audrey Stocks, at Sydney's

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...

. On 21 October 2015, Ellis announced on " The Project" that after several rounds of IVF and three miscarriages, she was pregnant with her second child. Austin Ralph Stocks was born 4 April 2016. Liz Ellis wrote a book in 2018 on her experiences with her troubles having children, the book is called "If at First You Don't Conceive" throughout it she talks about her troubles having children and how it worked out for her family. The book launched on 24 April 2018.

References

External links

*
Liz Elliz profile at Netball Australia website

Liz Ellis collection at the National Museum of Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Liz 1973 births Australian Institute of Sport netball players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Living people Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Officers of the Order of Australia Sydney Swifts players Australia international netball players Netball players at the 1993 World Games Netball players from New South Wales Australian netball commentators Esso/Mobil Superleague players Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 1995 World Netball Championships players 1999 World Netball Championships players 2003 World Netball Championships players 2007 World Netball Championships players