Julie Seymour

Julie Seymour
Personal information
Full name	Julie Seymour (née Dawson)
Born	29 March 1971 Wigan, England
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Spouse	Dallas Seymour
Netball career
Playing position(s): C, WD
Medal record Competitor for  New Zealand Netball World Championships 1995 Manchester Netball 1999 Christchurch Netball 2007 Auckland Netball Commonwealth Games 1998 Kuala Lumpur Netball 2002 Manchester Netball
Last updated: 22 October 2010

Julie Seymour, MNZM (née Dawson; born 29 March 1971)^[1] is a New Zealand netball coach, former international netball player and former representative middle distance runner. Seymour played for the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, in 92 test matches spanning 16 years. During her international career she has competed at three Netball World Championships and two Commonwealth Games. She also captained the Silver Ferns in 2002 and again during the last two years of her international career. After two years in the ANZ Championship, Seymour announced her retirement from competitive netball in 2009. She subsequently took on a coaching role at the Canterbury Tactix as assistant coach.

Early career

Seymour, a Physical Education teacher at Heretaunga College in Upper Hutt made her debut for the Silver Ferns in 1994. She was again selected for the Silver Ferns the following year to compete at the 1995 Netball World Championships in Manchester, where New Zealand finished a disappointing third place.^[2] She missed selection for the Silver Ferns in 1997 and made a return to athletics that year, finishing second in the 800 m at the national track and field championships in 1998.^[3]

That year also saw the introduction of netball to the Commonwealth Games, and the start of a new domestic netball league in New Zealand. Seymour signed with the Canterbury Flames for the inaugural Coca-Cola Cup (later the National Bank Cup), and was also selected for the Silver Ferns team that won silver at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. In 1999, she transferred to the Capital Shakers for the Coca-Cola Cup, and joined the Silver Ferns again for the 1999 Netball World Championships in Christchurch. While her World Championships campaign finished with a silver medal, Seymour was named as the official player of the tournament.^[4]

Silver Ferns captain

Seymour returned to the Flames for the 2000 Coca-Cola Cup as captain.^[5] In 2002, she was elevated to Silver Ferns captain, after incumbent skipper Bernice Mene retired. That year, Seymour led New Zealand to their second Commonwealth Games netball silver in Manchester. But just ten months into her captaincy she withdrew from the national team after becoming pregnant with her second child.^[6]

Seymour continued to play domestic netball with the Canterbury Flames until she announced her retirement following the 2004 season. However, she once again returned to the Flames in 2006 after the birth of her third child.^[1] She missed out on the 2006 Commonwealth Games team that won gold in Melbourne, but earned a callup to the Silver Ferns later that year following an injury to Casey Williams.^[7] Seymour was picked the following year for the 2007 Netball World Championships in Auckland, in which the Silver Ferns finished second.

ANZ Championship

The Canterbury Flames played their last match of the National Bank Cup in 2007, after which the competition was retired and replaced with a new trans-Tasman league, the ANZ Championship. The Canterbury Flames were one of five New Zealand teams in the new league, and were renamed the Canterbury Tactix. Seymour stayed with the Canterbury franchise and was named captain for the inaugural season in 2008.^[8] She also resumed her role as Silver Ferns captain later that year.^[9]

During Seymour's two years in the ANZ Championship, the Tactix finished in 8th and 6th place, respectively. At the end of the 2009 season, Seymour announced her retirement from all levels of competitive netball, pending the birth of her fourth child.^[10][11] After her retirement, Seymour accepted a position as assistant coach for the Tactix from 2010, under head coach Helen Mahon-Stroud.^[12]

Personal life

Julie Seymour is married to former All Black and long-time New Zealand rugby sevens representative player Dallas Seymour. Dallas and Julie have four children, with all four pregnancies occurring during Julie Seymour's long elite netball career. In 2003, Seymour was also made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to netball.^[13]

References

1. Rowberry, Lee (29 September 2006). "Mother who won't hang up the bib". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
2. Bleach, Keiran (28 July 1995). "What went wrong?". The Dominion Post. p. 20.
3. Blackshaw, Andrea (20 March 1998). "Dawson in running for Ferns". The Dominion Post. p. 22.
4. Boock, Richard (4 October 1999). "Devastated Colling accepts blame for loss". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
5. Boock, Richard (27 May 2000). "Upset defeat seen as blessing in disguise". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
6. NZPA (14 October 2002). "Pregnant Seymour withdraws from the Silver Ferns". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
7. Ash, Julie (13 October 2006). "Seymour gets the black number returned". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
8. "New faces, new name". The Press. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
9. McFadden, Suzanne (23 August 2008). "Seymour keen to embrace captaincy role". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
10. Sewell, Jane (updated 7 July 2009). "Fans farewell Seymour". The Press. Retrieved 22 October 2010. Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Johannsen, Dana (16 June 2009). "End of an era for Seymour". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
12. Walshe, Cathy (18 March 2010). "Contrasting challenges for Kiwi coaches". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
13. Ash, Julie (2 June 2003). "Queen's Birthday Honours: Former Silver Fern stars honoured for service". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.