Dame Lois Joan Muir (née Osborne; born 16 April 1935) 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 ...

coach and administrator, and a former representative netball and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Muir represented New Zealand in two sports, playing with the

Tall Ferns The New Zealand's elite women's basketball team is affectionately known to their home fans as the Tall Ferns. The team has been coached by Guy Molloy since 2018. The assistant coaches are Aik Ho and Jody Cameron. The Tall Ferns have a FIBA worl ...

from 1952 to 1962 and 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 ...

from 1960 to 1963. She later became head coach of the

for 15 years from 1974 to 1988. During this time she coached the Silver Ferns to World Championships gold in 1979 (jointly with Australia and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

) and in 1987. Born in Mataura on 16 April 1935, Muir was educated at

Gore High School Gore High School is one of two secondary schools in Gore, New Zealand, the other being St Peter's College, Gore. It is located on Coutts Road in the west of Gore. Notable staff *Johnny Borland – high jumper, athletics official *George Jobbern ...

, and then

Otago Girls' High School , motto_translation = The Right Education Makes The Heart As Strong As Oak , type = State , grades = 9 - 13 , grades_label = Years , gender = Girls-only , established = ; years ago , address = 41 Tennyson Street ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. In 1955, she married Murray Muir, and the couple went on to have three children. Muir was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to netball, in the

1984 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1984 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countri ...

, and was inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the Hall o ...

in 1993. With the start of the Coca-Cola Cup (later 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 ...

) in 1998, she became coach of the

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 ...

team. In August 1998, Muir was diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued to coach the Shakers until the end of the 2000 season. She also took up a coaching position with the

Otago Rebels The Otago Rebels was a New Zealand netball team which represented Otago in the National Bank Cup. Otago Rebels were the first team to win the inaugural (what was then known as) Coca-Cola Cup. In 2008, the Rebels were merged with Southern Sting to ...

until the end of 2005. In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Muir was appointed as a

Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

in recognition of services to sports administration and netball. She accepted redesignation as a

Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

in 2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government.Special Honours List
(12 August 2009) 118 ''

New Zealand Gazette The ''New Zealand Gazette'' ( mi, Te Kāhiti o Aotearoa), commonly referred to as ''Gazette'', is the official newspaper of record (Government gazette) of the New Zealand Government. Published since 1840, it is the longest-running publication i ...

'' 2691

References

External links

Lois Muir profile
nzhalloffame.co.nz; retrieved 13 March 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Muir, Lois 1935 births Living people New Zealand women's basketball players New Zealand netball players New Zealand netball coaches New Zealand netball administrators New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit People educated at Otago Girls' High School People from Mataura Sporting dames New Zealand national netball team coaches People educated at Gore High School 1963 World Netball Championships players