New Zealand Silver Ferns
New Zealand's national netball team, the Silver Ferns: history, competitions, and their long-standing rivalry with Australia.
The Silver Ferns are the New Zealand national netball team, taking their name from the silver fern, a national symbol shared with several of the country's other national sports teams.
Competitions
New Zealand compete in the Netball World Cup and Commonwealth Games netball tournaments. Domestically, the Silver Ferns' players are drawn largely from the ANZ Premiership, New Zealand's top domestic league.
Standing in world netball
New Zealand finished second at the first Netball World Cup in 1963 — see history of the Netball World Cup — and has remained one of the sport's leading nations ever since. The Silver Ferns' rivalry with Australia is widely regarded as the biggest and most closely followed fixture in international netball.
Where this page stops
This page is a durable reference to who the Silver Ferns are and where they compete, not a source for current squad lists or the latest results — check Netball New Zealand's official site for that.
Related reading
See Australia Diamonds for New Zealand's closest historical rival, and England Roses and Jamaica Sunshine Girls for the sport's other long-established leading nations.