Thelma Mary Turner (née Trask; 31 May 1929 – 26 September 2023) was a New Zealand netball player. She played as goal shoot in the New Zealand team in the second Test match against the touring Australian team in 1948.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thelma Mary Turner (née Trask) | ||
| Born |
31 May 1929 Hāwera, New Zealand | ||
| Died |
26 September 2023 (aged 94) Palmerston North, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.56 m (5 ft 1 in) | ||
| School | Palmerston North Technical College | ||
| Spouse | |||
| Netball career | |||
| Playing position(s): GS | |||
| Years | National team(s) | Caps | |
| 1948 | New Zealand | 1 | |
Early life edit
Turner was born Thelma Mary Trask on 31 May 1929, and grew up in Hāwera and then Palmerston North.[1][2] She was educated at Palmerston North Technical College, where she was girls' joint athletics champion in 1944.[2][3]
Netball career edit
Trask was a member of the Manawatu provincial netball team from 1944, playing in the forward third of the court.[1][4] She was also a Manawatu basketball representative from 1944.[5]
At the 1946 national netball championships in Tauranga, Manawatu shared the national title with Auckland, each winning six of their seven matches, with Trask reported as giving a "bright scoring display". At the conclusion of the tournament, Trask was included in the North Island team that defeated the South Island 22–19 in the interisland match.[6]
In 1948, Trask was selected in the New Zealand national team for the second Test against the touring Australian team in New Plymouth. The Australian team was victorious, winning 44–13.[2][7] The match was the only occasion on which Trask represented New Zealand, because the New Zealand side for the three-Test series was selected on a regional basis, and New Zealand did not play another international game until 1960.[2] With a height of 1.56 metres (5 ft 1 in), Trask is one of the shortest women ever to play for the Silver Ferns.[2]
Trask retired as from playing netball and basketball in 1956.[2]
Later life and death edit
In 1956, Trask married Bruce Turner, a New Zealand field hockey player at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games, and Central Districts cricket representative. The couple went on to have three children.[2] Bruce Turner died in 2010.[8]
In 2019, Thelma Turner appeared at a netball Test match between New Zealand and Trinidad and Tobago in Palmerston North, tossing the coin before the start of the game.[2]
Turner died in Palmerston North on 26 September 2023, at the age of 94.[9][10]
References edit
- ^ a b "Thelma Turner". Netball New Zealand. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Heagney, George (2 June 2019). "Former New Zealand netballer Thelma Turner recalls historic 1948 test against Australia". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Secondary education". Manawatu Times. Vol. 69, no. 97. 27 April 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Manawatu basketball". Manawatu Times. Vol. 69, no. 189. 11 August 1944. p. 2. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Rep. basketball". Manawatu Times. Vol. 69, no. 245. 16 October 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Tauranga team's fine record". Bay of Plenty Times. Vol. 75, no. 14153. 2 September 1946. p. 2. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Runaway win". Otago Daily Times. No. 26863. 30 August 1948. p. 7. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ Lampp, Peter (9 April 2010). "Tributes flow for hockey, cricket legend". Manawatu Standard. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
- ^ "Manawatū's 1948 Silver Ferns star has died". Manawatū Standard. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Thelma Turner obituary". Manawatū Standard. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2024.