An inspiring figure across the sport, legendary player, coach and administrator, New Zealand’s Waimarama Taumaunu has been decorated internationally with a World Netball Service Award.
Taumaunu has been recognised for the esteem in which she is held around the world while also having had significant impact on World Netball’s governance in relation to the international body’s strategies To Grow, To Play and To Inspire in a playing, coaching, umpiring or officiating capacity.
Apart from her current role as Director of High Performance at Netball Central Zone, Taumaunu has been a member of World Netball’s Rules Advisory Panel (RAP) from 2019–2025.
"This came as a total surprise but I’m delighted to be honoured in this capacity," Taumaunu said. "It came out of the blue but I have enjoyed doing my bit and contributing on the RAP in recent years."
New Zealand’s Shirley Hooper has also been reappointed vice-president of World Netball.
Taumaunu has had a long and distinguished career across all aspects of netball while making an immense contribution.
Selected in the Silver Ferns as an 18-year-old, Taumaunu went on to forge an outstanding 10-year international career. Captaining the Silver Ferns in her last three years, she played 77 tests, winning a world title in 1987 while being acclaimed as one of the outstanding defenders of her generation.
When offshore appointments were a rarity, Taumaunu was appointed National Performance Director of England Netball in 1998 and held this position until returning to New Zealand in 2003.
Taumaunu was the Silver Ferns head coach from 2011–2015, during which time she also undertook a range of administrative roles in high performance and strategic planning for the national body.
Since 2016, she has been Director of High Performance for the Central Zone, where she continues to foster rising young talent, as well as leading the Netball New Zealand (NNZ) team responsible for developing the Pacific Sporting Partnership in conjunction with NZ Rugby and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
More recently, Taumaunu has been responsible for establishing a coaching qualification framework designed to fast-track coaches who have experience in high-performance sport through their participation as players.
Her knowledge and experience have been recognised both nationally and internationally. In addition to her role on World Netball’s Rules Advisory Panel, she is also a member of the Board of Directors of High Performance Sport NZ.
Taumaunu received the NNZ Service Award in 2008, became a Life Member in 2021, was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1992 and an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2016 for her services to netball. She was inducted into the NZ Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Māori Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
Taumaunu’s impact has been enormous not just in New Zealand but around the globe, especially highlighted by her time as National Performance Director of England Netball, where she helped shape a system and a generation of players. A deep thinker and strategist of the game, her uncompromising style saw her become a World Champion as a player in 1987, and have a connection in some capacity at 10 Netball World Cups dating back to 1983.