| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Leana de Bruin (Née: du Plooy) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1977-07-09)9 July 1977 (age 48) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netball career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Updated on 20 May 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leana de Bruin (néedu Plooy) (born 9 July 1977) is a South African andNew Zealand internationalnetball player. De Bruin played 34 tests forSouth Africa before moving to New Zealand in 2000. She made her on-court debut for theSilver Ferns in 2003, and has gone on to represent New Zealand at theCommonwealth Games andNetball World Championships, playing in the goal defence and goal keeper positions.[1] In 2009, she pulled out of the team due to pregnancy, before returning the following year.[2]
De Bruin played for theSouthern Sting,Capital Shakers,Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic and theNorthern Force in theNational Bank Cup. With the start of theANZ Championship in 2008, de Bruin stayed in Auckland with the newNorthern Mystics franchise. The following year, she returned to the Magic in Hamilton, partnering in the defensive circle with Silver Ferns teammateCasey Williams.[3] De Bruin played most of the 2009 round-robin season before pulling out due to pregnancy. She returned to competitive netball the following year, signing with theSouthern Steel for the 2010 season,[4][5] before returning to the Magic in 2012 for the remainder of the ANZ Championship.
She announced that she would retire from international netball in July 2016.[6] Domestically, she signed with theNorthern Stars for theinaugural season of the newANZ Premiership, delaying her retirement from all forms of the game. She signed with Australian clubAdelaide Thunderbirds for the2018 Suncorp Super Netball season.[7] She was named captain of the Thunderbirds prior to the start of the season.[8] de Brun was captain at a difficult time for the club, as the Thunderbirds went winless for the entire season. She then returned to the Northern Stars for the 2019 season, extending her career beyond 17 years.[9]
