Netball’s favourite name: Anna Galvan

Without Kiwi female sporting legends to admire on the world stage, a young Anna Veronese may have never become a Silver Fern. Now, as Anna Galvan, she’s an icon of New Zealand netball, dedicated to ensuring young wāhine in sport always have role models, discovers Metropol Deputy Editor Nina Tucker.

Fostering passion and talent through relationships, community, and opportunity is key – without which many keen netballers lose interest. Anna works quietly behind the scenes and has done since her Silver Fern days, to keep participation and interest climbing.

“Netball has given me a profound sense of community; I’ve always wanted to share that with others. My dedication to netball is driven by a desire to foster the same sense of inclusion and belonging within the wider Canterbury community, ensuring that young aspiring netballers in our region have role models to look up to, just as I did,” Anna shares.

Ngā Puna Wai, the home of Christchurch Netball Centre for over a year now, is a project Anna spearheaded and a labour of love for the team involved. Today, it’s a facility the local netball community couldn’t imagine living without, a space that has helped recruit hundreds more players.

Anna’s tenacity was needed. “Ngā Puna Wai has been a game-changer,” she says, then reflects on time spent convincing some within the sporting community that it was necessary. “Now, with Ngā Puna Wai’s popularity across all sports, it’s clear that this facility was needed. Beyond just netball, it’s brought the community together across different codes, making our region a more active and connected place,” Anna confirms. Plus, it offers netball a faster-paced game indoors, and one much easier on the body.

She reveals an anonymous Auckland benefactor donated $11 million to Christchurch Netball following the Canterbury earthquakes, to achieve the ‘kick start’ a project like this needed. The build budget was secured with NZ Lotteries, NZ Community Trust, and The Rātā Foundation funding. As generosity cascaded – reaching a whopping $16.5 million – pressure escalated. “I felt a genuine sense of responsibility to deliver on the benefactor’s wish to see a community facility built in Christchurch,” Anna admits.

The complex’s eventual completion left her burnt out. “Hours and hours of toil and stress went into that project,” she adds, recounting the contribution and constant phone calls with fellow director Warren Poh. “Anna navigated each challenge with grace and success, and all the while was committed to the best for netball and ensuring this gift for the community is as lasting as possible,” Warren says.

From first discussions to fruition, the facility was 12 years of devotion – an incredible investment of many people’s energy. Once it officially opened, the time came to take a step back: “I now focus more on supporting my two daughters, who love netball as much as I do. Seeing them enjoying the sport the way I do is fantastic.” Thanks to Anna’s hard work, a steady stream of local talent ascends the ranks to become the role models young, up and coming players like Anna’s daughters need.

No longer on the Christchurch Netball Board, Anna remains on the Tactix Management Committee. “I am ready for my next netball challenge, I’m just not sure what that looks like yet,” Anna adds.

In late February, Anna won a Netball New Zealand Service Award. Following that, she now has self-growth and relaxation in her sights, challenging herself to read 52 books this year. This energy, amongst the hustle of maintaining an 11-acre property, hiking the Port Hills, or a mind in constant forward-thought sums her up as a person.

Such spirit saw Anna rise throughout her career outside of the game. An Executive Director role at Te Hono, (a partnership between leaders in New Zealand’s food and fibre sector, iwi, and government), led her to an opportunity at a Stanford University Executive Education programme. “During my time in San Francisco, I worked closely with Richard [McPhail, CEO of LeaderBrand] and other inspiring business leaders. By January of this year, he had convinced me to join LeaderBrand as their Strategic Advisor,”

Anna explains. She took the leap and moved to Gisborne, commuting once a month to Christchurch. It’s an “exciting challenge” and a real-life example of the drive that exists outside of a professional sporting career. Anna balances work, family, and personal life, scheduling time to support three children who share her elite physical drive. Isabella, 21, is heading to Australia to play netball, Harry, 18, “just won three national rowing titles”, and Charlotte, 16, enjoys rowing and netball.

Her own story within the sport began as an eight-year-old at Christchurch’s St Joseph’s Primary. “I’ve always been competitive, and growing up with brothers, I spent a lot of time at home competing with them in anything we could.” Netball channelled that competitive edge perfectly – she had found her place.
Villa Maria College was the “obvious” high school choice, Anna notes a fantastic netball programme that connected her with coaches and mentors such as Sally Mene, mother of Silver Fern legend Bernice Mene. Anna was so close she could taste it, surrounded by the possibility of making that dream a reality. “I looked up to [Bernice Mene]. Her success showed me that becoming a Silver Fern was possible.” Anna also idolised former Commonwealth and Olympic swimmer Anna Simcic – witnessing wāhine in sport succeed was the fuel she needed. “Having known Bernie and having met Anna [Simcic] made my dreams of representing New Zealand all the more obtainable,” she adds.

Anna moved through secondary school, representing on a regional and national level, before joining the inaugural Canterbury Flames team. “I was young and inexperienced, but I was surrounded by seasoned players like Cate Sexton, Helen Mahon-Stroud, Donna Loffhagen, Margaret Foster, and Lesley Nicol.”

Entrenched in a community that felt like family, Anna’s career soon spanned 17 years across the Silver Ferns, Southern Steel, and Tactix, with a Commonwealth Games silver medal and three wonderful children in between.

Amongst the highs and lows of injuries, family-work balance, and navigating challenges within leadership roles, Anna cherishes friendships from netball more than anything. “Those relationships will stay with me forever,” she smiles.