Sonya Hardcastle (born 16 April 1972) is a

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 ...

former 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 ...

player. An attacking midcourt player, Hardcastle was first selected for 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, in 1992. She sustained a back injury the following year, which kept her out of the

1993 World Games The 1993 World Games ( nl, 1993 Wereldspelen), the fourth World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in The Hague, Netherlands. Titles 155 titles were awarded in 23 sports (not including invitational sports — aikido, equestrian ...

. Outside of netball, Hardcastle was stalked several times during her early international career. After taking time out to focus on studies, Hardcastle rejoined the Silver Ferns in 1997, and went on to win silver medals at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

and 1999 Netball World Championships. 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, Hardcastle signed with 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 Coca ...

; having moved to live in Invercargill, she also started playing provincial netball for Southland. She announced her retirement from all forms of netball after 1999, although she played again with the Northern Force in 2001; she also made a surprise return to play with North Harbour in the 2008 provincial netball season. Her sisters Nadine and Rochelle also played alongside Sonya in domestic netball, with Rochelle joining her in the Northern Force. Her mother is also a coach with Netball North Harbour.

References

External links

Profile at the New Zealand Olympic Committee website
New Zealand netball players New Zealand international netball players Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand New Zealand Māori netball players 1972 births Living people Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Netball players at the 1993 World Games 1999 World Netball Championships players Northern Force players Northern Mystics coaches {{NewZealand-netball-bio-stub