New Zealander · Cromwell, New Zealand · Born 12 September 1975New Zealand attacker who played for the Silver Ferns at major tournaments before also representing New Zealand in rugby union.
Belinda Colling was born on 12 September 1975 in Cromwell, New Zealand, and made her Silver Ferns debut against South Africa in 1996 at 20, rising rapidly to become the team's 20th captain the following year — a role she held, aside from an injury break, for a decade. A creative goal attack who compensated for a lack of height with clever playmaking and an unflappable temperament under pressure, she won 92 Test caps between 1996 and 2006. Colling represented New Zealand across three Commonwealth Games and two World Cups: silver at the 1999 World Championship in Christchurch, where New Zealand lost the final to Australia, followed by gold at the 2003 tournament in Jamaica, where the Silver Ferns beat Australia to end a 16-year wait for the title. At the Commonwealth Games she took silver in both 1998 and 2002 — beaten by Australia in the final each time — before finally getting the better of the Australians for gold at the 2006 Melbourne Games. A genuine dual international, she also represented the Tall Ferns in basketball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Domestically Colling starred for the Otago Rebels, Canterbury Flames and England's Team Northumbria, before working in athlete welfare with New Zealand Rugby after retiring from top-level sport.
Silver Fern attacker and dual netball/rugby international
Career Honours
- 2003 Netball World Championship gold
- 1999 World Championship silver
- Commonwealth Games silver 1998, 2002
- Commonwealth Games gold 2006
New Zealander Athletes