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 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 coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

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 Na ...

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 ...

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 own ...

would be discontinued after the 2016 season, Netball New Zealand subsequently replaced it with the ANZ Premiership. The founding members of the ANZ Premiership included the five former New Zealand ANZ Championship teams – Central Pulse,

Mainland Tactix Mainland Tactix are a New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007, as Canterbury Flames, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Champions ...

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 t ...

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 ...

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

, Maia Wilson, Malia Paseka and Sulu Fitzpatrick.

ANZ Premiership

Since

, Stars have played in the ANZ Premiership. 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; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

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

Grand finals

; ANZ Premiership

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'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 ; * Julianna Naoupu ; * Leana de Bruin ; *

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

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 Temepara Anne Bailey (formerly Clark, née George; born 23 October 1975 in Auckland) is a New Zealand international netball player of Samoan and Māori descent. She was a member of the Silver Ferns national squad in 1996, and from 2000–2 ...

was appointed Comets head coach. In 2021 she guided Comets to the NNL grand final.

Honours

* ANZ Premiership **''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