A prominent figure during her long involvement as an umpire, administrator and manager, Pat (Patricia) Cleland is being remembered across the netball community after her passing in Perth last week.
Born in Wellington in 1930, Cleland progressed from her playing days as a Hutt Valley A Grade representative to becoming an international umpire, a member of the Netball New Zealand Executive and Silver Ferns manager.
Gaining her local and New Zealand Badges, Cleland umpired at all levels, including international, for many years from the 1950s to 1970s, a time when netball went through significant changes.
Being part of the nine-a-side era during her playing days, and recalling the stigma attached to women who played netball after marriage, Cleland played her part in the progression of the sport and marvelled at the skill levels of today’s player, particularly, the height of the modern-day player.
From umpiring, Cleland moved into administrative roles where she played a strong hand in the Wellington, Horowhenua and New Zealand Netball Associations. Cleland was on the organising committee for the 1975 New Zealand-hosted World Cup. Preceding the current Board structure of Netball New Zealand (NNZ), Cleland was on the New Zealand Netball Executive from 1971 – 1977.
She was manager of the Wellington team from 1972 – 1977 before becoming manager of the Silver Ferns in 1978 (against Trinidad & Tobago) and the 1979 World Cup tour to Trinidad and Tobago.
Her love of netball continued following her retirement when she joined tour parties for the 1983 (Singapore) and 1987 (Glasgow) World Cups.
Cleland was a strong presence and invaluable contributor to netball in Wellington, Lower Hutt, Whanganui and Levin where she resided at various times during her career before relocating to Perth in her later years.
She was acknowledged with a Netball New Zealand Service Award in 1982 and received similar recognition from the Wellington Netball Centre.