New Zealand’s Shirley Hooper has been re-elected as Vice President of World Netball following its Congress 2025 meeting.
Having completed her first term of four years, Hooper was re-elected for a second four-year term after being given the seal of approval from voting delegates.
"We are at an exciting point in the development of netball across the world in all 76 of our Member countries," Hooper said.
"I hugely appreciate the support from those Members to remain in the role of Vice President and hope to continue to drive this momentum."
Meetings of Congress are held once every two years, during which global netball leaders, delegates and stakeholders come together to shape the sport’s future — and Hooper’s re-election signals continuity and confidence in her leadership.
Hooper has long been a prominent figure in international netball administration, and her re-election is a testament to her dedication, strategic vision, and ongoing contributions to the growth of netball worldwide.
Under Hooper’s leadership, World Netball has expanded its global reach, supported the rise of emerging netball nations, and strengthened its commitment to equality, youth engagement, and sustainable development in sport.
Her reappointment reinforces World Netball’s stability at a time when the sport is reaching new audiences and gaining traction in untapped regions.
Shirley Hooper has also been recognised in the annual New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards.
Individuals and organisations in seven categories were honoured for their significant contribution to sport and recreation across Aotearoa New Zealand.
Hooper was a recipient of the Sir Eion and Jan, Lady Edgar Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to Netball.
“This year’s nominations were fantastic. They showed how dedicated and passionate people in our sector are, and how much they care about improving the wellbeing of our communities every day,” Sport NZ Chief Executive Raelene Castle said.
“Each category had a high calibre of entries which made choosing a winner a challenge for the judging panel. I’d like to congratulate all the nominees, the finalists and the winners.”
The 2025 judging panel was Mike Stanley CNZM (Chair), Sarah Murray, Dallas Seymour, Rebecca McDonald, Wayne Werder and Cheycoda Cocks. In keeping with the past two years, a strong number of entries were received across all seven categories.
Hooper has long been a prominent figure in domestic and international netball administration and her re-election as Vice President of World Netball was a testament to her dedication, strategic vision and ongoing contributions to the growth of netball worldwide.
A Life Member of Netball New Zealand (NNZ), Hooper was a Director on the NNZ Board from 2009 to 2018 and chaired the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee for two years from 2016 before becoming a key figure at World Netball.