Former Fern was ‘an asset to any team’
Former Silver Ferns midcourter and provincial netball coach Georgie Salter has died aged 67.
North Otago Netball posted on social media that Salter, who lived in the region, died on Wednesday night.
Salter, nee Hapuku, played eight tests for New Zealand, debuting against Singapore in 1974. At the 1975 world championship in Auckland, she was a key member of the New Zealand side, which finished third, being the team’s first-choice wing attack.
Having the ability to play all three midcourt positions, as well as goal defence, Salter, who stood 1.78m, was described as an astute reader of the game in her playing days on the Silver Ferns website.
‘‘A gifted attacker with a spontaneous nature made Salter an opportunist on defence, her all-round abilities an asset to any team.’’
She flourished in her move into toplevel coaching, guiding the Otago Rebels to the inaugural domestic league title in 1998.
Salter followed that up by guiding Otago to their first national title in 66 years later in the season.
Salter stepped out of retirement in December, 2016, to coach Netball South in Netball New Zealand’s new secondtier Beko League.
‘‘I’m probably going to be doing netball until my zimmerframe is rattling along the side of the court,’’ she said.
Salter also mentored the New Zealand under-21 team and worked as a technical adviser to the Cook Islands national team.
Netball runs strongly in the family with her niece being Southern Steel coach Reinga Bloxham.