Grace Nweke
New Zealand netball international
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grace Nweke (ⓘ;born February 7, 2002) is a New Zealand netball international. She first competed for New Zealand in September 2021.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 7 February 2002 Auckland, New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||
| School | Avondale College, ACG Sunderland | |||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Auckland | |||||||||||||||||||
| Netball career | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Early life
Grace Nweke was born in Auckland on 7 February 2002, to parents who emigrated to New Zealand from Nigeria. She has a twin brother and four other siblings. Her parents initially left Nigeria to go to South Korea, before settling in Auckland in the 1990s.[1] She attended ACG Sunderland from years 9 to 10 then transferred to Avondale College. At Avondale College she competed in high jump events as well as netball. Nweke is studying for a Bachelor of Commerce degree in information systems and marketing at the University of Auckland.[2][3]
Playing career
Northern Mystics
Nweke joined the Northern Mystics for the 2019 ANZ Premiership season, while she was still at school. Initially recruited to be a training partner she was rapidly promoted to being a full-time member of the Mystics squad. In 2021 she set a new ANZ Premiership scoring record, scoring 852 goals from 951 attempts and scoring 50 or more goals in 12 of the Mystics' 16 games. Her performances inevitably brought her to the attention of the national selectors, who selected her initially for the Under-21 side and then for the full 2021-22 New Zealand squad. Nweke missed four matches of the 2022 ANZ Premiership season due to an ankle injury; she was cleared to play the Grand Final but the Northern Mystics were defeated by the Northern Stars[4] Nweke was sidelined once again half way through the 2024 ANZ Premiership season with a knee injury.[5]
New Zealand
Despite her 2019 performance in the ANZ Premiership, Nweke was not selected for the 2019 Netball World Cup by Noeline Taurua, who cited fitness issues and her age.[6] Nweke made her national debut on 22 September 2021 against England in a 2021 Taini Jamison Trophy Series match but this ended in disappointment as the team lost 55-45.[7][8][9] In 2021 she was nominated at the Halberg Awards for the Emerging Talent Award but lost out to swimmer Erika Fairweather.[10] Nweke was selected for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and was noted as having a standout performance in the Bronze medal final against England, when New Zealand won 55-48.[11] Nweke's stellar performance was again followed up in the 2022 Constellation Cup against the Australian Diamonds having never come up against Australian players her shooting form was noted as being flawless, despite this, the Silver Ferns ended up losing the tournament 2-2 to the Australian Diamonds.[12] Nweke was selected for the 2023 Netball Quad Series and was the only player of the Silver Ferns team to play four full games, however the Silver Ferns lost to the Australian Diamonds in the final 56-50.[13] Further recognition and praise was gained when she won the best shooter and overall player of the series.[14][15] Nweke was selected for the 2023 Netball World Cup,[16] however she obtained a patella tear during a game against Singapore and was ruled out for the rest of the contest.[17][18] Nweke was cleared to play on managed time for the last two games of the 2023 Constellation Cup her game play was attributed to the Silver Ferns winning the last two games of the series.[19] Nweke was granted an exception to play for the Silver Ferns for the 2025/26 season [20]
Nweke captained the third game of the Taini Jamison Trophy series where the Silver Ferns beat the South African Proteas 3-0. At the trophy award presentation Nweke asked for the microphone and issued thanks to the recently stood down coach Noeline Taurua with pleas for the coaches return, although unexpected the speech was met with a lot of praise for the young athlete.[21]
NSW Swifts
After the 2024 ANZ Premiership season had completed, Nweke was announced to play for the NSW Swifts for the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season, making her still eligible for the Silver Ferns 2024 season but not the 2025.[22] Nweke was voted Most Valuable Player for the Swifts 2025 season and was resigned with the NSW Swifts for the 2026 season.[23]
Honours
Personal Honours
At the 2022 Netball awards Nweke was awarded the Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award shared with fellow Silver Ferns player Kelly Jury, as well as the Silver Ferns Player of the Year . [24]