Silver Ferns named finalists for Halberg Awards

The world champion Silver Ferns along with head coach Dame Noeline Taurua and captain Laura Langman have been announced as finalists for the ISPS Handa Halberg Awards.

The ISPS Handa Halberg Awards judges reviewed 70 nominations to create the shortlist, recognising achievements from 1 December 2018 to 30 November 2019. 

Seventeen finalists in the Sportswoman, Sportsman, Team and Para athlete/team categories are all eligible for the supreme Halberg Award – the country’s highest accolade for sporting excellence.

The Silver Ferns are one of five finalists for the ISPS Handa Team of the Year award, joined by the Black Ferns (rugby), BLACKCAPS (cricket), Women’s Eight (rowing) and Women’s Double (rowing).

The Silver Ferns went into the 2019 Netball World Cup in England ranked fourth, but produced a remarkable turnaround to lift the world crown for the first time in 16 years.

Dame Noeline Taurua joins four other contenders for the Buddle Findlay Coach of the Year award with Eugene Bareman (MMA), Gary Hay (rowing), Gordon Walker (canoe racing) and Roly Crichton (para swimming).

The Silver Ferns head coach united a Netball community to help take the Silver Ferns to the top of world netball with victory at the 2019 Netball World Cup.

She achieved this feat with a limited build-up and also holding down her role as head coach at the Sunshine Coast Lightning whom she took to their third straight Suncorp Super Netball grand final in 2019.

Laura Langman is a finalist for the High Performance Sport New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year award alongside Lisa Carrington (canoe racing), Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (snowboarding) and Courtney Duncan (motorcycling).

Langman played a pivotal role with the Silver Ferns this year both on and off the court – with her inspirational play in the midcourt a stand-out on the international stage and her ability to bring a team together during adversity, a testimony to her captaincy.

All winners will be announced at the 57th ISPS Handa Halberg Awards ceremony on Thursday 13 February at Spark Arena in Auckland.