A Netball NSW Hall of Fame Inductee in 2005 and a superb all-round athlete and tireless centre court player, Carissa Tombs (nee Dalwood) played netball at the elite level for over a decade and represented both her state and her country on numerous occasions.
Carissa was selected in her first Australian team in 1989 for the Milo series in New Zealand and was on court for the thrilling final of the 1991 World Championships when the Australian team defeated New Zealand by one goal. Carissa was also a member of the 1995 and 1999 Australian World Championship team and then retired from international netball in October 1999, having helped Australia win its third consecutive World Championship. The previous year, after having recovered from a knee reconstruction, Carissa was a member of the gold medal winning team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Carissa played in the Australian team for 11 years from 1989–1999 and with the career record of 94 test matches, retired as Australia’s second most capped player.
Carissa helped NSW win eight National Netball Championship titles, seven straight between 1988 and 1994. In the early years of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy 1997–1999, Carissa captained the Sydney Sandpipers .
In 1991, Carissa’s achievements as part of the World Championship-winning Australian team were recognised with an Order of Australia medal. Further recognition of Carissa’s outstanding career came in 2003, when she was inducted to the NSW Hall of Champions.
