On Tuesday last week Ruma Rangi was very lucky to have a Zoom meeting with Irene Van Dyk.

Irene is a retired pro netballer who played in the Silver ferns, Magics, the South African national team and the New Zealand National team.  With Mrs Bay we have been learning about famous people who have overcome setbacks and how they have recovered from them to have success. Irene was very helpful with our classwork and told us lots of interesting information.

Silver ferns

Irene was lucky enough to have been able to play in the silver ferns for 14 years before she retired . She said that she was extremely lucky to be able to play  in the Silver Ferns,  as it was a remarkable time in her life.

Commonwealth games 

One of Irene Van Dyke's  highlights in her career was going  to the CommonWealth Games and being the New Zealand  flag bearer in 2010. As well as playing netball,  she stated that she loved the food at the CommonWealth games because of the huge variety. 

Irene Van Dyk Position 

Irene was the main GS in the Silver ferns and also GA. Her shooting accuracy was 90% , and  at the time of 2010 she was New Zealand's best Netball Shooter. Irene  told us that she used to be very tall and all her coaches put her in defence, but when she moved, she told her new team's coach she was a shooter because she disliked defence. Then she practised hard and became one of NZ’s best shooters.

Irene Now

Irene  is now retired from playing netball but remains a representative for NZ netball. 

What else did we talk about on the Zoom? 

Ella and Hannah asked Irene questions about her netball career.

What did you do during your trainings in the Silver Ferns?

“We switched up our trainings to help our bodies get used to different exercises so our bodies would not just be used to the same thing”

What made you interested in Netball?

“When I was younger, my school netball team was short of one player and they asked me to join” 

By Mary-Mei Forman & Emily Coombes