Thelma Turner

Thelma Turner (1929 to 2023), born Thelma Mary Trask, was a New Zealand netball player who played goal shoot in the second Test against the touring Australian team in 1948. She grew up in Hawera and Palmerston North and played in the forward third for the Manawatu provincial team from 1944, as well as playing provincial basketball. At the 1946 national championships in Tauranga Manawatu shared the title with Auckland and she was picked for the North Island team. Her Test, in New Plymouth, was her only appearance for New Zealand, and at 1.56 metres she is one of the shortest women to have played for the Silver Ferns. She retired from netball and basketball in 1956, married the Olympic hockey player Bruce Turner, and in 2019 tossed the coin at a Test in Palmerston North.