Neita Matthews OAM* was inducted into the Netball NSW Hall of Fame in 2011.
She started her netball career at the age of eight at Mayfield West Primary School in Newcastle and went on to become one of the most respected umpiring figures in NSW and Australian netball.
In 1966, she became Newcastle’s first All Australian umpire when she achieved the feat at the National Netball Championships held in Sydney.
Moving to Sydney with her family in 1967, Neita continued her career with Eastwood Ryde Netball Association and in 1968 she was elected Umpires Convenor before being elected President in 1994; a role she continued in until 2004.
Her administrative service to the sport did not stop at an Association level; she was elected Netball NSW Junior Vice President in 1968 and also held the position of NSW Umpire Coordinator for 17 years.
During this time she assisted with the implementation of modified rules, as well as coordinating many seminars and camps and assisted with the badging and testing of umpires across the state.
From 1968 – 1976 she was a member of the Netball Australia Umpires Committee whilst continuing to umpire at the National Netball Championships. In 1987 she moved into the role of secretary of the Oceania Netball Association, a position she held until 1991.
In 1978 Neita was one of four umpires within Australia to be allocated a game in the Test Series between Australia and Trinidad & Tobago.
Neita had an impressive list of achievements which is highlighted by Life Memberships of Eastwood Ryde Netball Association (1977) and Netball NSW (1980), Patron of Netball NSW (1987 – 2021), recipient of the Australian Sports Medal (2000) and Centenary Medal for service to the community through amateur sport (2003),
She was also awarded the Anne Clark Award for services to netball (2004) and the Order of Australia Medal in the 2007 Australia Day Honours List.
In 2022 she was bestowed with Legend status by Netball NSW.
*denotes deceased
