Grace Nweke

New Zealand goal shooter and the first Silver Fern of Nigerian descent, who set a national league scoring record before establishing herself in the national team.

Grace Nweke was born on 7 February 2002 in Auckland to Nigerian immigrant parents. Discovered almost by accident at a local club after being invited to fill in for a training session, she joined the Northern Mystics as a training partner in 2018 while still at school, and was promoted to a full playing contract in 2019 at just 17. Standing 1.93m tall, Nweke set a new ANZ Premiership single-season scoring record in 2021, with 852 goals from 951 attempts at 90% accuracy, helping the Mystics win their first title with a near-flawless Grand Final performance. Her domestic form earned her selection for the Silver Ferns, and she made her international debut in September 2021 against England, becoming the first Silver Fern of African descent. She played a starring role in New Zealand's bronze medal win at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, top-scoring in the medal match against England, and was named the Silver Ferns Player of the Year and shared the Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award that year. Nweke's 2023 World Cup debut in Cape Town was cut short by a patella tear, but she returned to form, moving to Australia's NSW Swifts for the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season, where she was voted the club's Most Valuable Player in her debut year and re-signed for 2026. Still only in her mid-twenties, she is regarded as one of the sport's brightest young shooters and a future leader of the Silver Ferns.

Tall, athletic shooter with exceptional aerial ability and rapidly improving technical precision under the post

One of the most exciting young shooters in world netball, and a trailblazer for players of African heritage in New Zealand netball

• Silver Ferns Player of the Year 2022
• Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award 2022 (shared)
• Commonwealth Games Bronze 2022
• ANZ Premiership single-season scoring record (852 goals, 2021)