Northern Stars are a New Zealand netball team based in

South Auckland South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of Auckland, New Zealand, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not ...

. Since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

they have competed in the

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 ...

. The team was named after the

Matariki ), signalling the Māori new year., litcolor=, observedby=New Zealanders, nickname=, official_name=, alt=, image=M45 Pleiades Pbkwee (cropped to core 9 stars).jpg, relatedto=, date2022=24 June, date2023=14 July In Māori culture, Matariki is the ...

star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. They were grand finalists in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

History

Formation

After

Netball Australia Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administrating the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Nati ...

and

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 ...

announced that 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 ...

would be discontinued after the 2016 season, Netball New Zealand subsequently replaced it with the

. The founding members of the ANZ Premiership included the five former New Zealand ANZ Championship teams –

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that r ...

Mainland Tactix Mainland Tactix are a netball in New Zealand, New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007, as Canterbury Flames, they played in the National Bank Cup, Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cu ...

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 tha ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

– plus a brand new franchise, the

-based Northern Stars. The team was named after the

star cluster which is also featured on the team's logo. Former

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 ...

head coach, Julie Hoornweg, was named Stars inaugural head coach and

Leana de Bruin Leana de Bruin (née du Plooy) (born 9 July 1977) is a South African and New Zealand international netball player. De Bruin played 34 tests for South Africa before moving to New Zealand in 2000. She made her on-court debut for the Silver Ferns i ...

became their first captain. Other members of the inaugural squad included vice captain

Courtney Tairi Courtney Tairi (born 15 July 1988) is a former New Zealand netball international. She also represented Australia at under-21 level. She was a member of the Australia team that won the 2009 World Youth Netball Championships. During the ANZ Ch ...

plus

Kayla Cullen Kayla Malvina Johnson (née Cullen, born 13 February 1992) is a New Zealand netball player. As a high school student, Cullen played representative netball and basketball, and competed at a national level in athletics. In 2008, she was selected i ...

Maia Wilson Maia Wilson (born 21 September 1997) is a New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup and the 2021 Constellation Cup. She also represented New Zealand at the 2022 Comm ...

Malia Paseka Malia Vaka (née Paseka; born 23 September 1994) is a New Zealand netball player who played junior netball in Australia. She was then a member of the New Zealand national netball team at the 2015 Netball World Cup The Netball World Cup Sydney ...

and

Sulu Fitzpatrick Sulu Fitzpatrick (born 20 August 1992), also known as Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick, is a New Zealand netball and rugby sevens player. She plays for the Northern Mystics in the ANZ Championships. She can play the Goal Keeper, Goal Defence, and Wing Def ...

ANZ Premiership

Since

, Stars have played in the

. They were grand finalists in

. In

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, Stars were grand finalists for a second time. ;Regular season statistics

Grand finals

;

Home venues

Since

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Stars main home venue has been

Takanini Takanini is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, 28 kilometres southeast of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is home to a Fonterra Brands milk plant (part of the dairy company ...

's Pulman Arena.

Notable players

2023 squad

Internationals

; ; *

Ama Agbeze Ama Agbeze (born 12 November 1982) is an England netball international. She was captain when England won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019 she received an for her services to netball. She was also a member of the England ...

; *

Kelera Nawai-Caucau Kelera Nawai (born 14 December 1997) is a Fijian netball player who plays goal defense or goal keeper. She was included in the Fijian squad for the 2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball ...

Afa Rusivakula Unouna Afa Rusivakula (born 22 June 1992) is a Fijian netball player. Rusivakula began playing in Fiji with the Shine On team in the Lautoka Netball Association. She made her international Test debut for Fiji in the 2011 Pacific Netball Serie ...

; *

Julianna Naoupu Julianna Naoupu (born 1 March 1990) is a Samoan New Zealander who played for the Samoa national netball team and who plays in the ANZ Championship for the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic. She was a member of the Silver Ferns wider training squad s ...

; *

Vika Koloto Vika Koloto (born 8 May 2002) is a Tongan New Zealander netball player who plays as a wing attack, goal attack, and goal shooter. She has represented Tonga internationally. She is the daughter of rugby league player Emosi Koloto. Koloto was b ...

; *

Daystar Swift Daystar Swift (born 7 December 1991) is a Trinidadian netball player who plays for Trinidad and Tobago national netball team, Trinidad and Tobago in the positions of goal keeper or goal defense. She has featured for the national side in two Worl ...

Captains

Coaches

Head coaches

Assistant coaches

Main sponsors

Reserve team

Since 2017, Northern Comets have competed in the National Netball League. They are effectively the reserve team of Northern Stars. Comets were originally governed and managed by Netball Northern. However in November 2019, Northern Stars began to directly manage the team. In 2019, Temepara Bailey was appointed Comets head coach. In 2021 she guided Comets to the NNL grand final.

Honours

**''Runners Up'':

References

External links

Official website

Northern Stars on Facebook
{{Sport in Auckland ANZ Premiership teams Netball teams in New Zealand Netball teams in Auckland Sports clubs established in 2016 2016 establishments in New Zealand