Pānia Papa

Pānia Papa, born on 30 May 1970 and raised in Tokoroa in South Waikato, is a former New Zealand netball player who has since become a leading advocate for the te reo Māori language. She played netball for Waikato, and in 1990 she became the 93rd woman selected for the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, playing two Test matches that year against Jamaica and in a tri-series in Australia that also involved England, though she was not chosen for further internationals. Away from the court she has presented Māori-language programmes on Māori Television, translated children's books into Māori, lectured at the University of Waikato, and in 2023 was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.