Abbey McCulloch

Australian netball player

Abbey McCullochPersonal information

Full name|  Abbey McCulloch
Born|  (1990-02-12) 12 February 1990 (age 33)[1][2]
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height|  178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
School|  Endeavour Sports High School
University|  University of Western Sydney
RMIT University
Occupation|  Teacher
Relatives|  Kaarle McCulloch (sister)
Netball career
Playing position(s): WD, C, GD
Years|  Club team(s)|  Apps
2009–2011|  NNSW Blues|  22
2012|  NNSW Waratahs|  11
2013|  Queensland Firebirds|  11
2014–2018|  New South Wales Swifts|  43
2017–2019|  Sutherland Stingrays|
2018–2019|  NNSW Waratahs|
Coaching career
Years|  Team(s)
2018–2020|  Ascham School
2020–|  Westfields Sports High School
2020–|  Sutherland Stingrays U23s

Abbey McCulloch (born 12 February 1990) is an Australian former netball player. Between 2014 and 2018, McCulloch played for New South Wales Swifts. She captained Swifts during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. She previously played for NNSW Waratahs and Queensland Firebirds.

## Early life, family and education[edit]

McCulloch is originally from Bowral in the Southern Highlands. Her family later settled in the Sutherland Shire.[1][3][4] Her older sister, Kaarle McCulloch, represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Olympics as a cyclist.[5][6][7] Abbey and Kaarle both attended Endeavour Sports High School.[3][8][9][10] Between 2008 and 2012 she attended the University of Western Sydney where she gained a Bachelor of Business and Commerce in Sport Management and a Master of Teaching. In 2014 she gained a Diploma of Career Development from RMIT University.[2][11]

## Playing career[edit]

### New South Wales[edit]

Between 2006 and 2011, McCulloch represented New South Wales in the Australian National Netball Championships at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels, winning six consecutive national titles.[1][11][12][13][14]

### Australian Netball League[edit]

Between 2009 and 2012, McCulloch played for both NNSW Blues and NNSW Waratahs in the Australian Netball League. Between 2009 and 2011 she made 22 appearances for the Blues. In 2012 she made 11 appearances for the Waratahs. She was vice captain of the Waratahs team that were the 2012 ANL runners up.[1][11][13][14][15][16] In 2019, McCulloch finished her senior playing career with Waratahs in the ANL. She was a member of the Waratahs team that were the 2019 ANL runners up. She announced her retirement shortly after playing for Waratahs in the grand final.[17][18][19][20][21]

### Queensland Firebirds[edit]

McCulloch played for Queensland Firebirds during the 2013 ANZ Championship season. Together with Kim Ravaillion and Gabi Simpson, she made her ANZ Championship and Firebirds debut in a Round 1 match against Southern Steel. She went onto make 11 ANZ Championship appearances for Firebirds and helped them reach the 2013 grand final.[1][3][11][22][23][24]

### New South Wales Swifts[edit]

Between 2014 and 2018, McCulloch made 44 appearances for New South Wales Swifts in the ANZ Championship and Suncorp Super Netball.[1][2][25][26] Together with Sharni Layton and Caitlin Thwaites, she made her Swifts debut in the 2014 ANZ Championship Round 1 match against West Coast Fever.[27] McCulloch was a member of the Swifts teams that were ANZ Championship runners up in both 2015 and 2016.[28][29][30][31] She captained Swifts during the 2017 and 2018 seasons and in 2018 was named the NSW Swifts Players' Player of the Year.[3][32][33][34][35][36] In September 2018 it was announced that McCulloch would miss the 2019 Suncorp Super Netball season because of a knee injury. [37][38][39][40] She subsequently played for NNSW Waratahs during the 2019 season before announcing her retirement as a netball player in July 2019.[20][21][41]

## Teacher and netball coach[edit]

McCulloch is a secondary school teacher. Since 2012 she has worked for the NSW Department of Education. She has worked at several schools in the Sydney area including her own former school, Endeavour Sports High School and Leumeah High School.[3][11][42][43][44] Between 2018 and 2020 she served as head of netball at Ascham School. In 2020 she was appointed head of netball at Westfields Sports High School.[2][11]

Since 2017, McCulloch has served as a player-coach with Sutherland Stingrays in the Netball NSW Premier League. In October 2020 she was appointed head coach of their under-23 team.[21][45][46][47] In March 2020 she was appointed assistant coach at the QBE Swifts Academy.[48] She also owns her own coaching company, Per4orm Netball[11][49]

McCulloch has also worked as a sideline commentator for Nine Network.[2]

## Honours[edit]

New South Wales Swifts

* ANZ Championship
* Runners Up: 2015, 2016

Queensland Firebirds

* ANZ Championship
* Runners Up: 2013

NNSW Waratahs

* Australian Netball League
* Runners up: 2012, 2019

New South Wales

* Australian National Netball Championships
* Winner: Under-17 (2006, 2007), Under-19 (2008, 2009), Under-21 (2010, 2011)

Individual

* NSW Swifts Players' Player of the Year
* Winner: 2018

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f "Abbey McCulloch". nswswifts.com.au. 21 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
2. ^ a b c d e "Abbey McCulloch". driveravenuegroup.com. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
3. ^ a b c d e "The state of our game". athletesvoice.com.au. 14 July 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
4. ^ "Abbey's Road: Abbey McCulloch on finding a path from the bench to the starting line up". sbs.com.au. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
5. ^ "Sutherland Blues are the champs". theleader.com.au. 21 August 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
6. ^ "Swifts in fever pitch over 2014 season". theleader.com.au. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
7. ^ "Wests Sports Council honoured the region's top athletes at their annual awards night". Sydney: The Daily Telegraph. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
8. ^ "Targeted Sports". endeavoursportshighschool.com. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
9. ^ "Endeavour Sports High School – where stars are made" (PDF). endeavoursportshighschool.com. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
10. ^ "Endeavour Sports High School joins NSW Sports High School Association". theleader.com.au. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
11. ^ a b c d e f g "Abbey McCulloch". au.linkedin.com. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
12. ^ "Netball NSW – Annual Report 2007" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
13. ^ a b "2010 Netball NSW Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
14. ^ a b "Netball NSW and NSW Swifts – 2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
15. ^ "A league debut for trio". theleader.com.au. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
16. ^ "Netball NSW and NSW Swifts – 2012 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
17. ^ "Abbey McCulloch named in ANL Waratahs squad". southernhighlandnews.com.au. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
18. ^ "Victorian Fury claim eighth Australian Netball League title". draftcentral.com.au. 2 July 2019. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
19. ^ "Netball New South Wales – 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
20. ^ a b "Former NSW Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch retires from representative netball". theleader.com.au. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
21. ^ a b c "Former Swifts captain retires". thewomensgame.com. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
22. ^ "Queensland Firebirds withstand serous challenge from trans-Tasman rivals Southern Steele". News.com.au. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
23. ^ "Queensland Firebirds to test new combination during Summer Challenge". perthnow.com.au. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
24. ^ "NSW Swifts Abbey McCulloch and Steph Wood to train Orange netball juniors". centralwesterndaily.com.au. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
25. ^ "NSW Swifts – 2014 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
26. ^ "2014 Annual Report – Netball NSW" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
27. ^ "NSW Swifts – Honour Roll". nswswifts.com.au. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
28. ^ "NSW Swifts – 2015 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
29. ^ "2015 Annual Report – Netball NSW" (PDF). nsw.netball.com.au. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
30. ^ "NSW Swifts – 2016 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
31. ^ "Netball NSW – 2016 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
32. ^ "NSW Swifts – 2017 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
33. ^ "Netball NSW – 2017 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
34. ^ "NSW Swifts – 2018 Season". nswswifts.com.au. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
35. ^ "Netball NSW – 2018 Annual Report" (PDF). Netball NSW. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
36. ^ "'I'll make them pick me' How Abbey McCulloch rose to netball prominence". womensagenda.com.au. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
37. ^ "Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch to step away from Super Netball in 2019". Sydney: The Daily Telegraph. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
38. ^ "Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch to step away from Super Netball in 2019". News.com.au. 6 September 2018.
39. ^ "Uncertain future for NSW Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch after knee injury". theleader.com.au. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
40. ^ "I Want To Finish on My Terms". exclusiveinsight.com. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
41. ^ "Wilton netballer Abbey McCulloch announces retirement". wollondillyadvertiser.com.au. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
42. ^ "NSW Swifts player Abbey McCulloch's double life balancing act earns teammates-respect". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
43. ^ "NSW Swifts star Abbey McCulloch wants to keep day job despite new netball league". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
44. ^ "Premier's Sporting Challenge ambassador Abbey McCulloch visits Parkes East Public School students". parkeschampionpost.com.au. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
45. ^ "Sutherland Stingrays Team Archives". nnswpremierleague.com.au. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
46. ^ "Sutherland Stingrays". nnswpremierleague.com.au. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
47. ^ "Sutherland Stingrays Premier League Coaches 2021". ssna.asn.au. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
48. ^ "McCulloch to join QBE Swifts Academy coaching staff". nswswifts.com.au. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
49. ^ "About Per4orm Netball". per4ormnetball.com.au. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

* v
* t
* e

New South Wales Swifts

Est. 2007 in Sydney, New South Wales

Premierships (3)|

* 2008
* 2019
* 2021

Seasons|

| ANZ Championship|

* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016

|

Suncorp Super Netball|

* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021

Home venues|

* Ken Rosewall Arena
* Netball Central
* Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre

Captains|

* Catherine Cox
* Mo'onia Gerrard
* Kimberlee Green
* Abbey McCulloch
* Maddy Proud
* Paige Hadley

Head coaches|

* Julie Fitzgerald
* Lisa Beehag
* Rob Wright
* Briony Akle

See also|

* Netball New South Wales
* NNSW Waratahs
* NNSW Blues
* Hunter Jaegers
* Sydney Swifts

*[Apps]: Appearances
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*[t]: Discuss this template
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