Kathryn Harby-Williams
Encyclopedia
Kathryn Harby-Williams is an Australia
n netball
player and television presenter.
She currently works with Radio Sport New Zealand and is a Sky TV
commentator for Sky Sport 1's live netball coverage of the ANZ Championship
and international tests, along with former Silver Ferns
Tania Dalton
and Anna Stanley, and with co-Australian national representative Natalie Avellino
; she also co-hosts the weekly netball show On Court with Stanley. One of the most successful players of her era, she represented Australia for twelve years (95 caps) in her usual positions of goal defence and wing defence, including four years as captain from 2000 to 2003. She was victorious at two World Championships in 1995 and 1999, and part of the team winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002.
Stemming from her failure to be selected in a representative team in her teenage years, she would take 100 sprints up a 30 metre hill as a regular pre-season training. At another time after spraining her ankle in a match against New Zealand, despite missing court training she managed to put in four kilometres in the pool next day.
She was the inaugural captain of the Adelaide Thunderbirds
in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy
national league from 1997 until 2003, after she retired from Australian netball and moved to New Zealand
to take up a position as a reporter with the Sport 365 news programme.
Harby-Williams made a brief comeback in New Zealand, playing two seasons with the Auckland Diamonds
in New Zealand's national league, the National Bank Cup
. At the age of 34 she was selected as the league's most valuable defence player. She announced her retirement at the end of the 2005 season in order to focus on pursuing her television and radio career, but returned to the Diamonds in 2006.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
player and television presenter.
She currently works with Radio Sport New Zealand and is a Sky TV
SKY Network Television
Sky Network Television Limited , , is a New Zealand pay television service. On 30 June 2011, Sky had 829,421 subscribers, which comprises:*808,617 digital subscribers*20,840 other subscribers...
commentator for Sky Sport 1's live netball coverage of the ANZ Championship
ANZ Championship
The ANZ Championship is the pre-eminent netball league in the world. The competition is held annually between April and July, comprising 69 matches played over 17 weeks. It is contested by ten teams, five from Australia and five from New Zealand...
and international tests, along with former Silver Ferns
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 , which is an iconic emblem for many New Zealand sports teams. The Silver Ferns were formed in 1938 as a representative...
Tania Dalton
Tania Dalton
Tania Dalton is a New Zealand former international netball player. She currently works as a netball commentator on SKY Sports for international tests, the ANZ Championship and National Championships, alongside former internationals Anna Stanley, Natalie Avellino, Kathryn Harby-Williams and Bernice...
and Anna Stanley, and with co-Australian national representative Natalie Avellino
Natalie Avellino
Natalie Avellino is a retired Australian netballer, and current co-coach of the Southern Steel netball team in the ANZ Championship...
; she also co-hosts the weekly netball show On Court with Stanley. One of the most successful players of her era, she represented Australia for twelve years (95 caps) in her usual positions of goal defence and wing defence, including four years as captain from 2000 to 2003. She was victorious at two World Championships in 1995 and 1999, and part of the team winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1998 and 2002.
Stemming from her failure to be selected in a representative team in her teenage years, she would take 100 sprints up a 30 metre hill as a regular pre-season training. At another time after spraining her ankle in a match against New Zealand, despite missing court training she managed to put in four kilometres in the pool next day.
She was the inaugural captain of the Adelaide Thunderbirds
Adelaide Thunderbirds
The Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide that currently compete in the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship. The Thunderbirds were formed as one of the foundation teams of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy , previously the premier netball league in Australia, which was...
in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy
Commonwealth Bank Trophy
The Commonwealth Bank Trophy was the pre-eminent national netball competition in Australia from 1997 to 2007.It was established in 1997 as a true national league to replace the ailing, state club-based Mobil League. Designed from the beginning to be more marketable to the general public, it saw...
national league from 1997 until 2003, after she retired from Australian netball and moved to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
to take up a position as a reporter with the Sport 365 news programme.
Harby-Williams made a brief comeback in New Zealand, playing two seasons with the Auckland Diamonds
Auckland Diamonds
The Auckland Diamonds were a regional netball team which represented Auckland-Waitakere and Counties Manukau Netball in New Zealand's National Bank Cup...
in New Zealand's national league, the National Bank Cup
National Bank Cup
The National Bank Cup was the pre-eminent national netball competition in New Zealand between 1998 and 2007. From 2008, it was replaced by the ANZ Championship.-Format:...
. At the age of 34 she was selected as the league's most valuable defence player. She announced her retirement at the end of the 2005 season in order to focus on pursuing her television and radio career, but returned to the Diamonds in 2006.