New Zealander/Samoan · Samoa · Born 7 June 1963Samoan-born New Zealand wing attack/goal attack who helped the Silver Ferns win the 1987 World Championship and was later named in Netball New Zealand's all-time Dream Team.
Rita Fatialofa was born in 1963 in New Zealand to Samoan parents who had emigrated in the 1950s, the youngest of seven siblings, and lost her father when she was five. A gifted dual-sport athlete, she made her mark first in softball, playing as a power hitter nicknamed 'Bam-Bam' on the New Zealand team that won the 1982 ISF World Championship in Taipei, before making her Silver Ferns netball debut that same year at 18. Fatialofa played 45 Tests for New Zealand between 1982 and 1989, initially as a goal attack before moving to wing attack, where poise, spatial awareness and deceptively quick hands made her one of the country's finest attacking players. She was a key member of the Silver Ferns team that won the 1987 World Tournament in Glasgow, and retired from international netball after New Zealand beat Australia in the final of the 1989 World Games. After retiring she coached the Samoan national netball team at the 1991 and 1995 World Championships. In 1999 she was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and named to Netball New Zealand's all-time Dream Team, and in the 2014 New Year Honours she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sport.
Gifted Silver Fern attacking player and New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame inductee
Career Honours
- 1987 Netball World Championship gold
- 1983 World Championship silver
- 1989 World Games gold
- NZ Sports Hall of Fame 1999
- MNZM 2014
New Zealander/Samoan Athletes