Australian · Sydney, New South Wales, Australia · Born 15 December 1970Australian attacker who won the 1995 Netball World Championship with the Diamonds and later became a prominent netball coach in New Zealand and with the NSW Swifts.
Natalie Avellino was born on 15 December 1970 in Sydney, New South Wales, and came through the Model Farms Netball Club before representing the Baulkham Hills Shire and Parramatta Auburn associations as a junior. She won 20 caps for Australia across two separate international stints — 1994 to 1995, when she was part of the Diamonds' 1995 World Netball Championship-winning squad in England, and 2004 to 2006, when she returned to help Australia win silver at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Domestically, Avellino was a member of Adelaide Garville's Australian premiership-winning side in 1993, then went on to make 100 Commonwealth Bank Trophy appearances across Sydney Sandpipers, Melbourne Phoenix and Adelaide Thunderbirds, also spending several seasons playing for New Zealand's Southern Sting. She announced her international retirement in 2006 after her 100th domestic match, a guest appearance for the AIS Canberra Darters. After playing, Avellino built a substantial coaching career in New Zealand, leading Southland to their first National Provincial Championship title in almost 50 years and serving as co-coach of the Southern Steel in the ANZ Championship, before returning to Australia as assistant coach of the NSW Swifts in 2023.
Australian World Cup winner and long-serving domestic attacking player
Career Honours
- 1995 Netball World Championship gold
- 2006 Commonwealth Games silver
- Southern Sting National Bank Cup titles 2004, 2007
- Garville Mobil Superleague title 1993
- Australian Sports Medal 2000
Australian Athletes