Molly May Rhone OJ, CD, OD (born November, 1944) is a Jamaican sports administrator and former

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. She served as President of the

International Netball Federation World Netball, previously known as the International Netball Federation and the International Federation of Netball Associations, is the worldwide governing body for Netball. The INF was created in 1960 and is responsible for world rankings, m ...

(INF) from 2003 to 2019.

Early life and education

Rhone was born November, 1944 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to parents Violet and Adolfus Dacosta. She attended Knox College, a high school in Spalding, Clarendon, where she started playing netball, and was also active in the school's athletics team. Rhone studied information technology (IT) at the

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

in Toronto (Canada), graduating with a diploma in 1969. On her return to Jamaica, she worked as IT director for the national airline

Air Jamaica Air Jamaica was the national airline of Jamaica. It was owned and operated by Caribbean Airlines from May 2011 until the cessation of operations in 2015. Caribbean Airlines Limited, headquartered in Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, had administrati ...

Netball career

Rhone played international games as a member of Jamaican Under-21, Under-23 and senior national netball teams, including the

1975 World Netball Championships The 1975 World Netball Championships was the fourth edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It took place from 22 August to 4 September and was held in Auckland, New Zealand. It featured 11 teams ...

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 ...

, where she was the vice-captain of the Jamaican team. She was elected Vice-President of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) in 1991, and was elevated to the office of President in 1993. From 1999 Rhone served concurrently as vice-president of the

, then called the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). In 2003 she was elected President of the

IFNA World Netball, previously known as the International Netball Federation and the International Federation of Netball Associations, is the worldwide governing body for Netball. The INF was created in 1960 and is responsible for world rankings, m ...

in the same year Jamaica hosted the

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 ...

, succeeding Sheryl Dawson of

Netball New Zealand Netball New Zealand is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in New Zealand, including the Silver Ferns. In 2019, 137,713 players were registered with Netball New Zealand, the governing body for organised netball in the co ...

. To date, she has been the first and only Jamaican woman to head an international sporting body. On July 21, 2019, Rhone stepped down as President of the INF and was succeeded by

Liz Nicholl Elizabeth Mary Nicholl (''née'' Daley; born August 1952) is a British sports administrator and former netball player. She served as chief executive of UK Sport from 2010–19, and is the current president of World Netball. Early life and edu ...

England Netball England Netball, formerly the "All England Netball Association", is the national body which oversees, promotes and manages netball in England. Overview England Netball is responsible for the management of the England national netball team, nickn ...

. She was also a member of the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) and the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

Honors and awards

Rhone received her first national honour in 1999 when she was awarded the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') i ...

, Officer Class. In 2007, she was the recipient of the

, Commander Class, for her contribution to local and international sports, in particular Netball. In 2011, she received her third national award, the

Order of Jamaica The Order of Jamaica is the fifth of the six orders in the Jamaican honours system. The Order was established in 1969, and it is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system. Membership in the Order can be conferred upon ...

, for services locally and internationally in Sports Administration, in particular, Netball

Personal life

Rhone was married to the late Jamaican golfer Izette Rhone. She has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhone, Molly 1944 births Living people Jamaican netball players Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Members of the Order of Jamaica Jamaican sports executives and administrators Netball administrators Women sports executives and administrators Sportspeople from Manchester Parish Commanders of the Order of Distinction Officers of the Order of Distinction

Early life and education

Netball career

Honors and awards

Personal life

See also

References