Michelle den Dekker OAM, also known as Michelle Fielke, is an Australian netballer from South Australia. den Dekker represented Australia in 84 tests between 1988 and 1995, including a record 71 as captain. She received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 1992 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to sport.[1][2]

Michelle den Dekker
OAM
Personal information
Full name Michelle den Dekker
Born 23 March 1966 (1966-03-23) (age 58)
Netball career
Playing position(s): Defence
Years National team(s) Caps
1988-95 Australia 84
Coaching career
Years Team(s)
Specialist defence Assistant coach
Australian Netball Diamonds
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Netball World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1995 Birmingham Netball
Gold medal – first place 1991 Sydney Netball
Last updated: 2015-06-24

Netball career

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Life member of the Garville Netball Club from 1989 to 1995 and helping the club clinch five premierships in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1995.[3][4] In the national league, den Dekker was captain-coach of the Queensland Firebirds in 1997-98 before returning home to the now defunct Adelaide Ravens.[5]

den Dekker made her Australian debut in 1985, and led Australian to two world championships as captain (1991 and 1995). Michelle played a total of 84 test matches for Australia between 1985 and 1995, including 71 as captain. As captain her team enjoyed a win loss ratio of 92% (65 wins, 6 losses).[6][7]

den Dekker was voted as Adelaide's greatest netballer to have fronted for the Adelaide Thunderbirds or Adelaide Ravens.[5] She was inducted into the Australian Netball Hall of Fame in 2009.[1]

Coaching career

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den Dekker OAM was appointed Head Coach of Netball Australia’s new Centre of Excellence in Canberra in April 2014.[8][9]

den Dekker was the Diamonds Assistant coach for the Australian Netball Diamonds until August 2015 (the 2015 Netball World Cup). Currently still works as a consultant for Netball Australia as a Defence Specialist coach and manages her own Netball consultancy business working to develop our next generation of players and coaches in South Australia

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b w3admin. "#92 – MICHELLE DEN DEKKER OAM | Netball Australia". netball.com.au. Retrieved 19 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS ORDER OF AUSTRALIA". The Canberra Times. Vol. 66, no. 20, 875. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 8 June 1992. p. 4. Retrieved 24 July 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Our Honour List ~ Contax Netball Club". Contax.net.au. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Garville Netball Club - The Great Greys!". Garville.com.au. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Den Dekker is SA's greatest | Adelaide Now". Archived from the original on 21 November 2011.
  6. ^ "About Us". Michelledendekker.com.au. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  7. ^ a b c atosha. "Australian Netball Hall of Fame | Netball Australia". Netball.com.au. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  8. ^ Michelle Den Dekker Appointed Head Coach Of Netball Australias New Centre Of Excellence In Canberra The Courier Mail [dead link]
  9. ^ bradg (19 December 2013). "den Dekker appointed Diamonds assistant coach | Netball Australia". Netball.com.au. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  10. ^ "KPMG South Australian Sport Hall of Fame and Legends". Sportsa.org.au. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  11. ^ Colangelo, Anthony (4 December 2020). "Women's T20 side, Eales claim top honours at Sport Australia awards". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 December 2020.

External sources

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