Canterbury Flames
Encyclopedia
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
team based in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
that currently compete in the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship
ANZ Championship
The ANZ Championship is the pre-eminent netball league in the world. The competition is held annually between April and July, comprising 69 matches played over 17 weeks. It is contested by ten teams, five from Australia and five from New Zealand...
. The team was one of the founding franchises in the National Bank Cup
National Bank Cup
The National Bank Cup was the pre-eminent national netball competition in New Zealand between 1998 and 2007. From 2008, it was replaced by the ANZ Championship.-Format:...
, formerly the premier netball competition in New Zealand (1998–2007), during which the team was known as the Canterbury Flames. After the NBC was retired in 2007, the Flames became a founding franchise of the new trans-Tasman ANZ Championship and changed their name to the "Tactix". The Canterbury team represent the New Zealand regions of Canterbury and West Coast.
The Tactix have had mixed results during their competitive history. The "Flames" finished second in four seasons of the NBC, but since the start of the ANZ Championship the "Tactix" have finished no higher than sixth. The Tactix were coached by Helen Mahon-Stroud
Helen Mahon-Stroud
Helen Mahon-Stroud is a New Zealand netball coach. In 2008, Mahon-Stroud was appointed head coach of the Canterbury Tactix in the ANZ Championship. Canterbury finished in seventh place during the 2008 season, with five wins and eight losses. She has been retained as coach for the 2009...
during their first four seasons of the ANZ Championship; from 2012 the role will be taken over by former Silver Ferns
Silver Ferns
The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern , which is an iconic emblem for many New Zealand sports teams. The Silver Ferns were formed in 1938 as a representative...
coach Leigh Gibbs. Experienced Silver Ferns players Maree Bowden
Maree Bowden
Maree Bowden is a New Zealand international netball player. Bowden played with the Canterbury Flames in the National Bank Cup from 1999–2007. She continued with the Canterbury franchise, which became the Canterbury Tactix, when the ANZ Championship began in 2008...
and Donna Wilkins
Donna Wilkins
Donna Wilkins is one of New Zealand's leading sportswomen, representing her country in both netball and basketball. She became married to Southland farmer Mike Wilkins on 17 March 2007...
shared the Tactix captaincy role in 2011.
Home games for the Canterbury Tactix are played at the 7200-seat CBS Canterbury Arena in Christchurch. The team uniform is primarily red and black, in line with traditional Canterbury Rugby Union colours. Their alternate uniform has the black and yellow colours reversed, and is only used when playing the New South Wales Swifts in Australia. For their season of the ANZ Championship, the team were sponsored by SKOPE, a heating and refrigeration company. Since 2009, Mercury Energy have been their naming rights sponsor.
National Bank Cup
- 2007: 5th
- 2006: 4th
- 2005: 6th
- 2004: 2nd
- 2003: 6th
- 2002: 2nd
- 2001: 2nd
- 2000: 2nd
- 1999: 6th
- 1998: 3rd