The sky's the limit! COURTNEY'S WORLD CUP DREAM

Since retiring from netball, the former Silver Fern is smashing new goals

- Catherine Milford

She’s interviewed sports legends from Serena Williams to Beauden Barrett, and last year she ticked a bucket-list item by commentating at Israel Adesanya’s UFC fight at the hallowed Madison Square Garden.

But Courtney Tairi’s heart lies in the sport she loves most – netball. And she has certainly earned her place as commentator in the all-female Sky Sports team at the 2023 Netball World Cup, which started on July 28 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The daughter of a rugby league player and a netballer – her dad and uncle started the Māori league in New Zealand and Sydney – little Courtney was always active. Raised in Western Sydney, she spent her early days playing touch and shooting hoops with her dad in the driveway, on the touch and athletics fields in summer, then the netball courts in winter.

“I grew up with athletes, in an athlete environment, so I can really relate to the highs and lows the players are going through when they are out there,” tells Courtney, who spent her 35th birthday commentating the All Blacks vs South Africa rugby match on July 15. “I get really excited. My adrenaline is still high and I still read the game as if I’m playing it.”