Linda Tuumuliga Vagana (born 23 July 1971 in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand) is an 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 ...

coach and former representative player from New Zealand. Vagana played as a circle defender, and was a member of 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 ...

, the Silver Ferns, from 1993 (joining the squad at the end of 1992) up until 2002, earning 61 caps. She was appointed a

Member 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 ren ...

in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to netball. Domestically, she played for 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 ...

from 1998 to 2005. Vagana currently coaches the Samoa national netball team, and is the General Manager of

Duffy Books in Homes Duffy Books in Homes is the trading name of The Alan Duff Charitable Foundation. It is a New Zealand registered, literacy-focused charitable organization which has links to similar organisations in the United States and Australia. History The p ...

. She is the cousin of

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

players

Nigel Vagana Nigel Faletoese Vagana (born 7 February 1975), also known by the nicknames of "Pablo", and "Chiko", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s, as a and . A New Zealand national rugby league team, New Z ...

and

Joe Vagana Joseph Sonny Vagana (born 21 January 1975), also known by the nickname of "Big Joe", is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a Prop forward in the 1990s and 2000s. During his career Vagana played for the Auckland Warriors ...

References

New Zealand netball coaches New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Netball players from Auckland 1971 births Living people People educated at Massey High School Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Netball players at the 1993 World Games 1999 World Netball Championships players Northern Force players 2003 World Netball Championships players Samoan netball players Northern Mystics coaches Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games {{NewZealand-netball-bio-stub