Queen’s Birthday Honours

Former Silver Fern and New Zealand coach Yvonne Willering was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

The New Zealand Netball great joins Maree Bernasconi and Lyn Pellow, who both received the Queen’s Service Medal, in the weekend Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

It is the second honour Willering has received for her services to Netball having been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002.

Since then, the defender who was part of New Zealand’s 1979 World Cup winning team and coached New Zealand from 1997- 2001, has continued to contribute to Netball in coaching.

She has worked as a contract defensive coach for a number of New Zealand elite domestic teams while also guiding the Fijian national team from 2002-2003. Willering is also a current member of the Coaching Advisory Panel of the International Netball Federation where she has delivered defensive workshops to international coaches. She was also made a life member of Netball New Zealand last year.

Meanwhile, Maree Bernasconi, from Pukekohe, received the Queen’s Service Medal for her services to Netball having supported the game in the Franklin district.

Having held many governance and administrative roles with the Pukekohe Netball Centre executive, Bernasconi continues to serve as an office administrator for the Centre.

Berasconi has played a key role in raising funds for the local sporting community and taken on a number of volunteer positions with Pukekohe and the Counties Netball.

The Queen’s Service Medal was also awarded to Lyn Pellow who has been involved with Auckland Netball for nearly 30 years.

What started out as a role as part-time administrator in 1989 continued into numerous volunteer positions and Pellow continues to serve on the Games, Judiciary and Representative Committees.

Pellow has also been a regular representative for the Auckland region at Netball New Zealand Council meetings.

She was made a Life Member of the Auckland Netball Centre in 2012 in recognition of her contribution to the game.

Left to right: Lyn Pellow, Yvonne Willering, Maree Bernasconi