Casey Kopua
Casey May Kopua is a retired New Zealand international netball player and former captain of the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, and the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.
Kopua has been a member of the New Zealand national netball team since 2004, making her on-court debut in 2005 against Barbados. She also played in the New Zealand U21 netball team that won gold at the 2005 World Youth Netball Championships in Florida. During her career she has won gold medals at the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2009 World Netball Series, and silver medals at the 2007 and 2011 World Netball Championships. In 2008, she co-captained the team with Laura Langman, stepping into the role of acting captain later that year following an injury to Julie Seymour. In July 2009, Kopua became the 23rd captain of the Silver Ferns, taking over from Seymour who retired from the game.
In domestic netball, Kopua has played with the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic since 2003. During the 2008 ANZ Championship season, she was named the Holden Captiva player of the championship, winning a new car.
In the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kopua was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, alongside former Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken, for services to New Zealand netball.
In December 2012, Kopua married Hamilton lawyer Terry Kopua.
On 11 October 2014, Kopua became the most capped New Zealand netball captain in history, playing her 63rd test as captain of the team in the 3rd test of the Constellation Cup against Australia in Sydney's Allphones Arena. In the fourth quarter of that match, Kopua suffered a suspected dislocated patella. Scans later revealed that Kopua also ruptured her patella tendon. Three days later Kopua underwent surgery to repair her patella tendon.
On 21 May 2016, Kopua and her husband Terry announced the birth of their daughter. They had a second child, a boy, in 2020.
