Taini Maremare Jamison (; 23 February 1928 – 28 April 2023) was 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. She coached the

New Zealand national team New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

to its first world title at the

1967 World Netball Championships The 1967 World Netball Championships was the second edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial international netball competition. The 1967 tournament was held in Perth, Western Australia, and featured eight teams. New Zealand were the wi ...

. The Taini Jamison Trophy, contested between New Zealand and visiting international teams other than Australia, is named in her honour.

Early life and family

Jamison was born Taini Maremare Royal in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

on 23 February 1928. Her father, Te Rangiātaahua Kiniwē Royal, was of Ngāti Raukawa and

Ngāti Tamaterā Ngāti Tamaterā is a Māori '' iwi'' (tribe) of the Hauraki region of New Zealand, descended from Tamaterā, the second son of Marutūāhu. It is a major tribe within the Marutūāhu confederation and its leaders have been prominent in Hauraki ...

descent, and her mother, Irihapeti Te Puhi-o-Rākaiora Taiaroa, was from Ngāi Tahu. Her father worked for the Māori Land Court and was often away from home carrying out surveys. The family briefly moved to

Ruatoki Ruatoki or Rūātoki is a district in the eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand, just south of the small town of Tāneatua and approximately 20 km south of the city of Whakatāne. The Whakatāne River runs northwards through the Ruatoki Valle ...

in the eastern Bay of Plenty because of his job. He served with the Māori Battalion in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, was badly wounded and was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

. Jamison studied at Rotorua High and Grammar School, but when her father was posted to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

after the war she moved to

Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. H ...

, later studying at

Wellington Teachers' Training College Wellington College of Education (formerly Wellington Teachers' Training College) was established in 1888 with the purpose of educating teachers in New Zealand. It became the Faculty of Education of Victoria University of Wellington, formed from th ...

. In Wellington, she joined the Ngāti Pōneke Young Māori Club, which was much in demand to perform at government functions. She recalled performing for the famous British singer

Gracie Fields Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the h ...

, when Fields was touring the

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in 1945. After qualifying as a teacher, she had several different postings. When based in Horohoro, near Rotorua, she met her husband, Tom Jamison, who was coaching the local

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team. Three months after they married, he died after an accident on the basketball court. She was already pregnant and her son was named after her husband. She did not remarry. Jamison spent eight years teaching in Horohoro before moving to Malfroy Primary School in Rotorua, where she stayed until reaching retirement age.

Netball career

Jamison's interest in netball began at a young age. She progressed to being a member of the Rotorua representative team, which won the national championships, and she was selected for the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

team on three occasions. She retired from competition in 1959, after which she spent a decade coaching the Rotorua team. She also competed in tennis tournaments. In 1967, Jamison coached the New Zealand netball team that won the

World Netball 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 ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Australia. Four years later, she coached the New Zealand team to the runners-up position in the

1971 World Netball Championships The 1971 World Netball Championships was the third edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica, and featured nine teams including the debut of the Bahamas. It began ...

in Jamaica, when the team was away from home for almost four months. She was the first

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

coach of the New Zealand netball team, and is its most successful coach, having a percentage win rate of 90 per cent. Jamison was involved for nearly all of her adult life with Netball Rotorua and was its president from 1981 to 2001.

Death and legacy

Jamison died in Rotorua on 28 April 2023, aged 95. In 2008, the Taini Jamison Trophy, named in Jamison's honour, was established. It is contested when any netballing nation or nations, other than

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, play the Silver Ferns in New Zealand.

Awards and honours

In 1972, Jamison was awarded the Netball New Zealand Service Award. In the

1994 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1994 were appointments by most of the sixteen 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 c ...

, she was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to netball. In 1996, the New Zealand netball team coached by Jamison that won the 1967 world championship was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. As an individual, Jamison was inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and in 2010, she was made a life member 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 ...

References

External links

Brief video of Taini Jamison in 2020
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamison, Taini 1928 births 2023 deaths New Zealand netball coaches New Zealand national netball team coaches New Zealand Māori netball players New Zealand netball players New Zealand netball administrators Sportspeople from Rotorua New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Rotorua Girls' High School People educated at Wellington Girls' College Ngāi Tahu people Ngāti Raukawa people Ngāti Tamaterā people New Zealand schoolteachers New Zealand Māori schoolteachers