View source for Tilly Hirst

{{Short description|New Zealand netball player (1941–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox netball biography
|name           = Tilly Hirst
|image          = Tilly Vercoe 1965 (cropped).jpg
|caption        = Vercoe in 1965
|fullname       = Tilly Titihuia Rangimatau Hirst
|maidenname     = Vercoe
|birth_date     = {{Birth date|1941|09|17|df=y}}
|birth_place    = [[New Zealand]]
|death_date     = {{Death date and age|2021|06|04|1941|09|17|df=y}}
|death_place    =
|height         = 5ft 9in
|school         =
|university     =
|occupation     =
|spouse         =
|married_date   =
|children       =
|positions      = GD, WD, GK
|domesticyears  =
|domesticteams  =
|domesticcaps   =
|nationalteam1  = [[New Zealand national netball team|New Zealand]]
|nationalyears1 = 1967–71
|nationalcaps1  = 19
|medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry|{{nb|New Zealand}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Netball World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1967 World Netball Championships|1967 Perth]]|Team}}
{{MedalSilver|[[1971 World Netball Championships|1971 Kingston]]|Team}}
}}
'''Tilly Titihuia Rangimatau Hirst''' (née '''Vercoe'''; 17 September 1941 – 4 June 2021) was a New Zealand [[netball]] player. She was a member of the [[New Zealand national netball team|New Zealand team]] that won the [[1967 World Netball Championships]].
==Early life==
Hirst was born Tilly Titihuia Rangimatau Vercoe on 17 September 1941, the daughter of Ruhina and Raharuhi Vercoe.<ref name="Ferns profile">{{cite web |url=https://www.silverferns.co.nz/silver-ferns/history/players/tilly-hirst.html |title=Tilly Hirst |publisher=Netball New Zealand |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref><ref name="Death notice">{{cite news |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/rotoruadailypost-nz/obituary.aspx?n=tilly-titihuia-rangimatau-hirst-vercoe&pid=198910966 |title=Tilly Hirst death notice |date=5 June 2021 |work=Rotorua Daily Post |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> Of [[Māori people|Māori]] descent, she was affiliated with [[Ngāti Pikiao]], [[Ngāti Kea Ngāti Tuarā]], and [[Ngāti Manawa]].<ref name="RDP 2018"/> She was educated at [[Rotorua Girls' High School|Rotorua High School]] from 1955 to 1958.<ref name="RDP 2018">{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/more-names-added-to-rotorua-boys-high-school-hall-of-fame/TY6UMVA56KQHWIPS6SYAYVVU64/ |title=More names added to Rotorua Boys' High School Hall of Fame |first=Zizi |last=Sparks |date=2 June 2018 |work=Rotorua Daily Post |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref>
==Netball career==
At {{convert|5|ft|9|in|m|2|order=flip}} in height, Vercoe was regarded as being a tall netballer player in her day, and was known as a dynamic defender, playing as a goal keeper, goal defence or wing defence.<ref name="Ferns profile"/> She represented the Rotorua provincial team between 1960 and 1972, winning the North Island provincial championships every year from 1962 to 1967, except 1963, and was a member of the North Island team from 1963 to 1966, 1968 to 1970 and in 1972.<ref name="RDP 2018"/>
Vercoe was first selected to play for New Zealand at the 1967 World Netball Championships in Perth, and was also named as the team's vice-captain, with [[Joan Harnett]] as captain.<ref name="Ferns profile"/> At that tournament, New Zealand won all seven of their matches, and were crowned world champions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.todor66.com/others/Netball/World/Women_1967.html |title=Women Netball II World Championship 1967 |publisher=Todor 66 |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> In 1969, Vercoe toured Australia with the New Zealand netball team, with the two-test series being shared 1–1.<ref name="Ferns profile"/> She retired as a player after the [[1971 World Netball Championships]] in [[Kingston, Jamaica|Kingston]], at which New Zealand lost just one match, against Australia 48–42, to finish as runners-up.<ref name="Ferns profile"/><ref>{{cite news |title=England third |date=14 January 1971 |work=[[The Times]] |page=12 |issue=58072}}</ref> Over her career, Vercoe played 19 international games for New Zealand.<ref name="Ferns profile"/>
In 1996, the world-champion 1967 New Zealand netball team was inducted into the [[New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame]].<ref name="RDP 2021"/> In 2018, Hirst was inducted into the [[Rotorua Boys' High School]] Hall of Fame, which includes people who attended the school when it was the co-educational Rotorua High School.<ref name="RDP 2018"/><ref name="RDP 2021"/>
==Later life and death==
After retiring from netball, Hirst worked at the Rotorua police station, undertaking clerical duties.<ref name="RDP 2021">{{cite news |url=https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/rotorua-daily-post/20210609/281496459220315 |title='Decent', 'loyal' former Silver Fern mourned |date=9 June 2021 |first=David |last=Beck |work=Rotorua Daily Post |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> She was married to Peter Hirst, who died in 2013.<ref name="RDP 2013">{{cite news |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/obituary-peter-gets-last-of-wishes/MI55WCV6TJ3PURML3MOUQM4XA4/ |title=Obituary: Peter gets last of wishes |date=27 March 2013 |work=Rotorua Daily Post |access-date=9 June 2021}}</ref> The couple were active members of the Rotorua [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]] community, with Peter Hirst serving as the group's secretary.<ref name="Death notice"/><ref name="RDP 2013"/> Tilly Hirst died on 4 June 2021, aged 79.<ref name="Death notice"/><ref name="RDP 2021"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Beck |first=David |date=8 June 2021 |title=Obituary: 'Fiercely loyal' former Silver Fern Tilly Hirst remembered as one of Rotorua's finest |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/obituary-fiercely-loyal-former-silver-fern-tilly-hirst-remembered-as-one-of-rotoruas-finest/EPQLKNFZ3MQNECJLCJRKR266HA/ |work=Rotorua Daily Post |access-date=10 June 2021}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{New Zealand squad at the 1967 World Netball Championships}}
{{New Zealand squad at the 1971 World Netball Championships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirst, Tilly}}
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Ngāti Pikiao people]]
[[Category:Ngāti Manawa people]]
[[Category:Ngāti Kearoa people]]
[[Category:People educated at Rotorua Girls' High School]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Rotorua]]
[[Category:New Zealand Māori netball players]]
[[Category:New Zealand international netball players]]
[[Category:New Zealand Bahá'ís]]
[[Category:1967 World Netball Championships players]]
[[Category:1971 World Netball Championships players]]