Kelly Jackson (née Jury; born 22 October 1996) is a New Zealand netball international who plays for the Queensland Firebirds in the Super Netball. She was part of the New Zealand team which won gold at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. She was a prominent member of the Central Pulse teams that won the 2020 and 2022 ANZ Premierships. She was the 2022 ANZ Premiership Player of the Year and shared the 2022 Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award with Grace Nweke.

Early life, family and education Jackson is Māori with Ngāti Kahungunu affiliations. She also has European ancestry. She was born in Stratford, New Zealand. Kelly grew up on a large sheep and beef farm near Makahu. She attended Makahu Primary School and New Plymouth Girls' High School. She attended the University of Waikato, where she studied for a Bachelor of Sport and Leisure Studies.

Club career Early years Jackson began playing netball aged seven. In her youth she played for various representative teams. She played for Taranaki at under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels as well as the New Zealand Maori Secondary Schools and the Manawatu NPC teams. She originally played as a goal shooter before switching to goal keeper. She also captained New Plymouth Girls' High School. Shortly after being named in the 2015 Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic squad she suffered an Achilles tendon rupture while playing for her school.

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Between 2015 and 2019, Jackson made 40 senior league appearances for Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic. Jackson was just 17 and still attending New Plymouth Girls' High School when she signed her first Magic contract. However she missed the 2015 season because of inJackson. During a 2018 Round 2 match against Southern Steel, Jackson suffered a dislocated shoulder. She subsequently missed most of the season.

Central Pulse Jackson signed for Central Pulse ahead of the 2020 ANZ Premiership season. She made her debut for Pulse during the pre-season Otaki tournament. She was a member of the Pulse team that were 2020 minor premiers and overall champions. Although Jackson mainly plays as a goalkeeper, she can also play as a goal defender. Ahead of the 2022 ANZ Premiership season, Jackson was named Pulse co-captain alongside Tiana Metuarau. Jackson was a stand out player for the 2022 Central Pulse team that won the premiership title. She was included in Brendon Egan's Stuff'''s team of the season, was named MVP as Pulse defeated Stars 56–37 in the grand final, was named the 2022 ANZ Premiership Player of the Year and shared the 2022 Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award with Grace Nweke.

International career Jackson was a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2016 Fast5 Netball World Series. Jackson made her senior debut for New Zealand on 2 February 2017 during a Quad Series match against England. She came on in the final quarter and helped New Zealand secure a 61–37 win. She was subsequently a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup. She was the player of the match as New Zealand defeated Australia 60–57 in the final. In September 2017, she was again player of the match as New Zealand defeated Australia 57–47 to win their first Quad Series. She went on to represent New Zealand at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games. She captained New Zealand for the second test of the 2025 Taini Jamison Trophy Series. Jackson was named in the squad for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where the Silver Ferns won their first Commonwealth Games gold medal in 16 years, defeating Jamaica in the final.

Tournaments Place2016 Fast5 Netball World Series2017 Netball Quad Series (January/February)2017 Netball World Youth Cup2017 Netball Quad Series (August/September)2017 Taini Jamison Trophy Series1st2017 Constellation Cup2018 Netball Quad Series (January)3rd2018 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2nd2018 Commonwealth Games4th2020 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2021 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2022 Netball Quad Series3rd2022 Commonwealth Games2022 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2022 Constellation Cup2023 Netball Quad Series2023 Netball World Cup4th 2023 Taini Jamison Trophy Series1st2023 Constellation Cup2nd 2024 Netball Nations Cup3rd 2024 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2nd2024 Constellation Cup1st2025 Taini Jamison Trophy Series1st 2025 Constellation Cup2nd2025 New Zealand netball tour of Great Britain2026 Commonwealth Games1st

Statistics

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2016 |style="text-align:center;"|Magic | || || || || || || || || ||8 |- style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2017 |style="text-align:center;"|Magic |0/0||?||21||0||?||37||63||198||3||15

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2018 |style="text-align:center;"|Magic |0/0||?||1||0||?||5||7||18||1||2 |- style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2019 |style="text-align:center;"|Magic |0/0||0||27||0||0||37||79||187||5||15

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2020 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse |0/0||0||14||0||0||26||47||153||6||14 |- style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2021 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse |0/0||1||14||19||2||21||51||170||12||14

! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2022 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse |0/0||0||36||0||0||46||116||189||9||16 |- style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" |2023 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse

|- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2| Career ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Honours

New Zealand Commonwealth Games: 2026 Constellation Cup: 2024 Netball Quad Series: 2017 (August/September) Taini Jamison Trophy: 2017, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025 Netball World Youth Cup: 2017 Fast5 Netball World Series: 2016

Central Pulse ANZ PremiershipWinners: 2020, 2022 Minor premiers'': 2020, 2022

Individual awards Year Award2022Grand Final MVP2022Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award2022ANZ Premiership Player of the Year

References

External links