Silver Ferns presented Mauri Stone
July 3, 2023
Connecting the past, present and future, New Zealand’s five Netball World Cup winning captains took part in a special ceremony to hand over the mauri stone to the current World Cup-bound team.
The purpose of this pounamu is to hold the mauri of the Silver Ferns which can be translated as vital essence, life force and energy. As such this stone is a sacred object.
Coming together for the first time as a group, winning captains Judy Blair (Perth, 1967), Lyn Gunson (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago,1979), Leigh Gibbs (Glasgow, Scotland, 1987), Anna Stanley (Kingston, Jamaica, 2003) and Laura Langman (Liverpool, England, 2019) presented the mauri stone to the Silver Ferns who head to Netball World Cup 2023 on July 21.
Once this stone is within the team, it will hold the combined aspirations, hopes and dreams of everyone associated with the Silver Ferns, from the players through to the coaches and management and all their supporters.
This taonga also serves as a kaitiaki for the team – providing a degree of spiritual protection for all involved in the Silver Ferns. Because of the sacred and profound attributes of this mauri stone it must be protected, cared for and respected at all times.
This mauri stone was sourced from Te Tai o Poutini (West Coast) of the South Island.
This type of pounamu is known as Kahurangi and many believe it is the most beautiful of all types of pounamu due to its depth of colour, translucence, energy and beauty.
“As you care for this taonga, so too will this taonga care for you.
Join, gather, intertwine! Hold and bind as one! It is done!”
“It was very special to be here for this ceremony and join with the other winning captains because it’s been a long time since I’ve had connections with the Silver Ferns,” Judy Blair said.
“I can remember going away (to World Cup) in 1963 from Wellington and having a good and fond farewell from there, and there was a lot of the older Silver Ferns saying goodbye to us, so this brings back a lot of memories of happy, happy days.
“I know in 1967, it was one of the friendliest, happiest teams I’d ever been in and being captain of it, I was just one of the girls and if you all play for each other, success comes your way. And that saying, ‘a happy team’s a winning team’ was all too true.”
Uniting history and continuing the Silver Ferns legacy was important for Lyn Gunson on a special day in the sport’s link with the past and present.
“It’s been an exciting day for everybody in the sense that it’s drawing together some historical moments and wishing the current team well but, also, it’s important that New Zealand netball continues the connections to the past,” she said.
“For me, it’s a long time ago… 44 years, so a lot’s changed since then.
“For any team going to a World Cup, the main piece of advice is to never under-estimate the opposition. When people put the colours of their country on their back, they do some exceptional things sometimes and there are teams in the competition always that could win the competition that are not Australia and New Zealand.”
Few players get the opportunity to a play at a World Cup and for Leigh Gibbs, the merging of what’s been before and what’s to come couldn’t have been highlighted more appropriately.
“In a word this day has been special,” she said.
“To be able to combine the former winning captains and the ceremony with the Silver Ferns heading off shortly, hopefully it will send them away with some really cool vibes.
“I was excited about today and the opportunity of reliving some little pieces of gold.”
For Gibbs, her main message for the current Silver Ferns was to remain focused around why they’re at the World Cup and balancing that with keeping things real and not too intense.
“That was the beauty of when I think back to `87 and just a group of players who were pretty experienced and who had experienced disappointment and knew what we needed to do.
“That clarity coupled with the great leadership of (coach, Dame) Lois and the senior players really contributed.”
Honesty and bravery were the key components for Anna Stanley once the Silver Ferns become immersed in the World Cup.
“I would say for the players to have courage and be brave to speak up when things don’t feel right and don’t leave it until it’s too late,” she said.
“They’ve done the hard yards, the build-up and they’ll have confidence in themselves but when you get to a World Cup, you’ve got to be brave and ask the big questions if a situation arises.”
For the ever-bubbly Laura Langman, re-connecting with the former captains meant the maintaining of special links, having crossed paths with all of them at various stages of her career.
“I feel like they’ve got all the answers right in their back pocket,” she said of the current Silver Ferns.
“They’ll be prepared really well and Noels leaves no stone unturned. Hand on heart, she’s the best technical and tactical coach, so they can take real faith in their preparation.”
Footnote:
Kuru Pounamu is a small Māori business based in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and is run and operated by husband and wife, Dean Marjoribanks and Ivana Sokolich.
The purpose of this pounamu is to hold the mauri of the Silver Ferns which can be translated as vital essence, life force and energy. As such this stone is a sacred object.
Coming together for the first time as a group, winning captains Judy Blair (Perth, 1967), Lyn Gunson (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago,1979), Leigh Gibbs (Glasgow, Scotland, 1987), Anna Stanley (Kingston, Jamaica, 2003) and Laura Langman (Liverpool, England, 2019) presented the mauri stone to the Silver Ferns who head to Netball World Cup 2023 on July 21.
Once this stone is within the team, it will hold the combined aspirations, hopes and dreams of everyone associated with the Silver Ferns, from the players through to the coaches and management and all their supporters.
This taonga also serves as a kaitiaki for the team – providing a degree of spiritual protection for all involved in the Silver Ferns. Because of the sacred and profound attributes of this mauri stone it must be protected, cared for and respected at all times.
This mauri stone was sourced from Te Tai o Poutini (West Coast) of the South Island.
This type of pounamu is known as Kahurangi and many believe it is the most beautiful of all types of pounamu due to its depth of colour, translucence, energy and beauty.
“As you care for this taonga, so too will this taonga care for you.
Join, gather, intertwine! Hold and bind as one! It is done!”
“It was very special to be here for this ceremony and join with the other winning captains because it’s been a long time since I’ve had connections with the Silver Ferns,” Judy Blair said.
“I can remember going away (to World Cup) in 1963 from Wellington and having a good and fond farewell from there, and there was a lot of the older Silver Ferns saying goodbye to us, so this brings back a lot of memories of happy, happy days.
“I know in 1967, it was one of the friendliest, happiest teams I’d ever been in and being captain of it, I was just one of the girls and if you all play for each other, success comes your way. And that saying, ‘a happy team’s a winning team’ was all too true.”
Uniting history and continuing the Silver Ferns legacy was important for Lyn Gunson on a special day in the sport’s link with the past and present.
“It’s been an exciting day for everybody in the sense that it’s drawing together some historical moments and wishing the current team well but, also, it’s important that New Zealand netball continues the connections to the past,” she said.
“For me, it’s a long time ago… 44 years, so a lot’s changed since then.
“For any team going to a World Cup, the main piece of advice is to never under-estimate the opposition. When people put the colours of their country on their back, they do some exceptional things sometimes and there are teams in the competition always that could win the competition that are not Australia and New Zealand.”
Few players get the opportunity to a play at a World Cup and for Leigh Gibbs, the merging of what’s been before and what’s to come couldn’t have been highlighted more appropriately.
“In a word this day has been special,” she said.
“To be able to combine the former winning captains and the ceremony with the Silver Ferns heading off shortly, hopefully it will send them away with some really cool vibes.
“I was excited about today and the opportunity of reliving some little pieces of gold.”
For Gibbs, her main message for the current Silver Ferns was to remain focused around why they’re at the World Cup and balancing that with keeping things real and not too intense.
“That was the beauty of when I think back to `87 and just a group of players who were pretty experienced and who had experienced disappointment and knew what we needed to do.
“That clarity coupled with the great leadership of (coach, Dame) Lois and the senior players really contributed.”
Honesty and bravery were the key components for Anna Stanley once the Silver Ferns become immersed in the World Cup.
“I would say for the players to have courage and be brave to speak up when things don’t feel right and don’t leave it until it’s too late,” she said.
“They’ve done the hard yards, the build-up and they’ll have confidence in themselves but when you get to a World Cup, you’ve got to be brave and ask the big questions if a situation arises.”
For the ever-bubbly Laura Langman, re-connecting with the former captains meant the maintaining of special links, having crossed paths with all of them at various stages of her career.
“I feel like they’ve got all the answers right in their back pocket,” she said of the current Silver Ferns.
“They’ll be prepared really well and Noels leaves no stone unturned. Hand on heart, she’s the best technical and tactical coach, so they can take real faith in their preparation.”
Footnote:
Kuru Pounamu is a small Māori business based in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and is run and operated by husband and wife, Dean Marjoribanks and Ivana Sokolich.