Myrlene Dawn Jones (born 1940) is a New Zealand

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

umpire who spent 15 years as New Zealand's top-ranked umpire and officiated at four

netball world championships The Netball World Cup is a quadrennial international netball world championship organised by World Netball, inaugurated in 1963. Since its inception the competition has been dominated primarily by the Australia national netball team and the New ...

. She was also a netball administrator, a school principal and a justice of the peace.

Early life

Jones was born in

Ōtāhuhu Ōtāhuhu is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand – to the southeast of the CBD, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tāmaki River estuary to the east. The Auckland isthmus is the narrowest connect ...

, a suburb of

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. Her father was a wrestler and also coached rugby in

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau Central, and southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe was traditionally an important area fo ...

, near Auckland. She attended the

Auckland Girls' Grammar School Auckland Girls' Grammar School (AGGS) is a New Zealand secondary school for girls located in Newton, New Zealand, Newton, Auckland. Established in 1878 as Auckland Girls' High School, it is one of the oldest secondary institutions in the countr ...

in Newton, where one of her teachers fostered a love of mathematics, at a time when girls were not encouraged to become mathematicians. Jones graduated from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1942. She would go on to work at Papatoetoe High School as a maths teacher.

Umpiring career

In the 1960s Jones obtained local and national umpiring qualifications in netball and in 1974 was appointed to accompany the

New Zealand national netball team The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns ( or ), represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Netball at the Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Games, the ...

to England, at the beginning of an international umpiring career in which she was the top-ranked umpire in the country for 15 years. She became president of the New Zealand Umpires Association in 1975. She umpired 85

test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

, including in four world championships and two

World Games The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 d ...

, together with more than 200 other first-class matches. She became president of Netball New Zealand in 1987. On retiring from active umpiring, she became a member 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, main ...

's umpiring committee, chairing its umpiring advisory panel from its establishment in 2008 until 2013, and was a key force behind the introduction of new rules and a new rule book.

Other activities

Between 1975 and 1993 Jones was principal of the

Diocesan School for Girls, Auckland Diocesan School for Girls (Dio) is a private girls' school in Epsom, New Zealand, Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand. It is consistently a top-achieving school nationally. The school is Anglican-based and was established in 1903. It caters to internatio ...

. A sports centre at the school was named after her. She also served as a Justice of the peace.

Awards and honours

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 ...

, Jones 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to netball and education. In 1999, she was given the Ultimate Umpire Award, on the occasion of Netball New Zealand's 75th anniversary celebrations, for her outstanding umpiring. She has received service awards from the International Netball Federation and Netball New Zealand and was awarded life membership of Netball New Zealand. In 2015, Jones was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the

Halberg Awards The Halberg Awards are a set of awards, given annually since 1949, recognising New Zealand's top sporting achievements. They are named for New Zealand middle-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist Sir Murray Halberg. The initial award was han ...

. In the

2016 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

, she was appointed a

Companion 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 ...

, for services to netball and education. In 2024, Jones was an inaugural inductee to the

Netball New Zealand Hall of Fame The Netball New Zealand Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to New Zealanders who have been influential in netball and have dedicated their lives to the betterment of the game. Inductees may come from all areas of netball, and may ...

, and was accorded "icon status".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Dawn Living people Date of birth missing (living people) New Zealand netball umpires New Zealand netball administrators Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Auckland Girls' Grammar School Heads of schools in New Zealand New Zealand justices of the peace People from Auckland University of Auckland alumni 1940 births 20th-century New Zealand sportswomen