Mo'onia Frances Gerrard (born 15 November 1980 in Bathurst, Australia) is a former Australian

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 of Tongan descent. Her netball career commenced at a very young age; she would often participate in training sessions of her mother's senior

Dee Why Dee Why is a coastal suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Northern Beach ...

Beach Netball Club team. When she was old enough to register in a team, Gerrard commenced playing with Narrabeen Youth Club and was later selected to represent Manly Warringah Netball Association at State Age, State Championships and State League. She was an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of th ...

scholarship holder. Gerrard is a current member of the Australian national team, and from 2011 is playing for the

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team ...

in 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 own ...

. She is the sister of Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player

Mark Gerrard Mark Gerrard (born 4 September 1982) is a former Australian professional rugby union footballer. He currently is the assistant coach for the Austin Gilgronis in Major League Rugby (MLR) competition in the United States. In 2011, he was one of ...

. Gerrard is also greatly admired for her dedication to the community, mentoring younger people, promoting healthy lifestyles and sporting and personal excellence, particularly in disadvantaged communities. On 14 March 2013 the New South Wales Parliament's Legislative Council voted unanimously to commend Gerrard on her outstanding service to the community.

Domestic career

In the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

, Gerrard played five years with the

Sydney Sandpipers Sydney Sandpipers were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2003, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Swifts and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of three ...

and during that time received the 1999 Best New Talent Award and shared the Player's Player Award in 2003. Late 2003 saw the demise of Gerrard's Sandpipers team, so she relocated to cross-town rivals the

Sydney Swifts Sydney Swifts were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2007, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Sandpipers and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of thr ...

. Gerrard's relocation was followed by a string of serious injuries, with an ankle injury keeping her out of the 2004 season, and a knee reconstruction curtailing her comeback in 2005. This knee reconstruction also prevented Gerrard from competing at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 ( Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

, in which Australia lost the gold-medal match to New Zealand. Shortly after the

2007 Netball World Championships The 2007 World Netball Championships was the 12th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball co-ordinated by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA). Sixteen nations contested the ...

Gerrard announced that she was relocating from Sydney to play with the

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played ...

in the new

. Gerrard played three seasons with the Thunderbirds, reaching the playoffs in all three years and winning the championship in 2010. Later in 2010, Gerrard announced that she will return to Sydney to play for the

. In 2011, played her first season with the Swifts since 2007. At the ANZ Championship, Gerrard played her 50th ANZ Championship match against the West Coast Fever in round 4. Gerrard also played her 150th domestic match in round 5 against the Canterbury Tactix. Both of these matches were played in Sydney. In addition, Gerrard is currently the only Australian player to have her team in the finals series with the Thunderbirds (2008-2010) and the Swifts (2011).

International career

She was first selected in the

Australian netball team The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international netball tournaments such as the INF Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad Seri ...

to take on the

Silver Ferns 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 ...

on Australian soil in November 2004. A series of injuries curtailed her participation in competitive netball throughout 2005, and forced her to miss the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Gerrard made her comeback to competitive netball in 2006, and quickly fought her way back into the Australian team. Her strong defensive combination with Sydney Swifts teammate Liz Ellis played a major role in Australia reversing their losing streak against New Zealand in mid-2006, and Gerrard has laid claim to the goal defence position ever since. In November 2007 Gerrard played a key role for Australia when it won 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 ...

beating New Zealand in Auckland.Netball Australia profile
. Retrieved on 14 March 2009. She missed the Diamond's inaugural

World Netball Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an international Fast5 netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The ...

campaign in 2009 with an ankle injury, but rejoined the national team for the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

in Delhi, winning silver. She also played at the

2011 World Netball Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Si ...

in Singapore, primarily as a wing defence. Gerrard has earned herself 68 Test Caps for Australia.

Netball career highlights

* 2012-2013 NSW Swifts co-captain * 2011 World Championship gold medal (extra-time) * 2010 Commonwealth Games silver medallist (double extra-time) * 2010

Australian International Player of the Year The Australian International Player of the Year (or Gaze Medal) is an award for the best player of the Australia men's national basketball team, given annually between 1988 and 2012 and then sporadically during the rest of the 2010s. The voting for ...

* 2010 ANZ Championship premiership * 2008 Liz Ellis Diamond winner * 2006, 2007 Back to back titles with Sydney Swifts * 1998 Australian 21U netball team

References

External links

2008 Adelaide Thunderbirds profile
Retrieved on 14 March 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerrard, Mo'onia 1980 births Living people Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Netball players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games New South Wales Swifts players Adelaide Thunderbirds players Australian sportspeople of Tongan descent Australian Institute of Sport netball players Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Australia international netball players Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sydney Swifts players Sydney Sandpipers players Netball Superleague coaches Australian netball coaches Netball players from New South Wales Australian expatriate netball people in England 2007 World Netball Championships players 2011 World Netball Championships players People from Bathurst, New South Wales