During her seven-season reign as captain of the White Ferns, Suzie Bates was called Queenie by her teammates. From the moment Beatrice Faumuinā became the world’s best discus thrower in 1997, she’s been known as Queen Bea.
From today, both queens of Kiwi sport will also be known by the extra letters after their names – Faumuina as CNZM, a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for her services to sport and governance; and Bates, currently in England preparing for her swansong Cricket World Cup, as ONZM, an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to both cricket and basketball.
They are two of 11 New Zealand women involved in sport to receive King’s Birthday honours in 2026.
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM):
Beatrice Faumuinā – for services to sport and governance
While Faumuinā is best known by the Kiwi public for her exploits on the inside of an athletics track, her careers as a director and a diplomat have been equally impactful.
A former world champion discus thrower, four-time Olympian and three-time Commonwealth Games medallist – who received an ONZM from the Queen in 2005 – Faumuinā has since held multiple governance roles in sport and business, and worked in international relations.
From 2015 to 2018 she was the New Zealand Trade Commissioner and Consul General in New York, and a member of the New Zealand and Samoa Trade Investment Commission. She’s been a director of Sport New Zealand, helping shape High Performance Sport NZ’s wellbeing initiatives for athlete mental health. As deputy chair of The Trusts Area in west Auckland, she coordinated assistance for families evacuated to the Arena during the 2023 Auckland Anniversary floods.
A New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Faumuinā is today a leadership advisor and a public speaker.
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM):
Suzie Bates – for services to cricket and basketball
Later this month, Bates will end a phenomenal career as an international cricketer, and one of the greatest players the game has seen. Bates (Ngāi Tahu) is New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in ODIs, and the world’s top batswoman in T20Is – a record she intends to extend at the T20 World Cup starting June 12.
The White Ferns captain from 2011 to 2018, Bates has multiple awards to her name, including ICC Women’s ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Year in 2013 and 2016, and Player of the Tournament at the 2013 World Cup. And the Tall Fern who played basketball at the 2008 Olympics hopes this honour reflects the team-mate she’s been across her 20-year international career.
“The stats and those things they come and go, but I guess what you can hold yourself true to is how you turn up every day to the team and what kind of teammate and person you are… I feel like the way I’ve led myself within this group for that time is something I’m really proud of,” she said from England last night.
“It feels a little bit overwhelming that other people have recognised what I’ve done, even though when I first started in women’s sport it wasn’t that well recognised. To see where the game is now, it’s really special to still be a part of it.”
A champion of ‘Balance is Better’, who works with teen girls in Otago cricket, Bates says she hopes she’s led by example and shown younger players coming through the White Ferns the work ethic required to be a professional cricketer. “We’ve got a really good chance at this World Cup, so I know once I’ve finished and I leave the team, I’m going to be really proud of the impact I’ve had,” she said.
She’d struggled with keeping the news a secret from her family in Dunedin and “in a very Suzie way”, she’d continue to keep it under wraps from her White Ferns teammates today. “They can read it somewhere,” she laughed.
Sharon Williamson – For services to hockey
The former chair of Hockey New Zealand, Williamson was instrumental in delivering the $50m National Hockey Centre in Albany – awarded the Sultan Azlan Shah Award by the International Hockey Federation in 2020 for her efforts.
She’s given more than 30 years to North Harbour hockey – from coaching youth and senior women’s teams to and chairing their board from 2010 to 2013.
She’s been a member of the Hockey NZ board since 2014, as chair from 2023 to 2025, and also headed the National Hockey Centre Governance Group. Her international advocacy has strengthened Hockey NZ’s presence globally.
Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM):
Barbara Beable – for services to athletics
A 1970 Commonwealth Games silver medallist in shotput, Beable (née Poulsen) has contributed more than 60 years to sport and athletics as an athlete, coach, and educator. She won 16 senior national titles between 1966 and 1978 – nine in pentathlon and seven in shot put – and competed at three Commonwealth Games. Her highest international ranking was fourth in pentathlon.
She worked with her husband, Dr Michael Beable (also honoured in these awards), creating a unique training environment helping other athletes to national and international success.
Head of PE for 26 years at Queen Margaret College in Wellington, she introduced modern fitness programmes and was part of the pilot group who pioneered PE as an academic subject. She also brought strength and conditioning to Dame Lois Muir’s Capital Shakers netball team in the early 2000s. She continues to coach at the Aspiring Athletics Club in Wanaka.
Lisa Kingi-Bon – for services to rugby, particularly player welfare
Kingi-Bon is a fierce advocate for safe and inclusive rugby environments, working with players and their families living with catastrophic injuries from rugby.
Since 2012, she’s been the chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Foundation (NZRF), supporting lifelong care for seriously injured rugby players and their families. She’s led planning for brain health and concussion risk management, and has ensured defibrillators are in every rugby club in the country.
Kingi-Bon has also been an administrator at five Rugby World Cup tournaments and was a King Country Rugby board member.
Vicky Lassen – for services to netball and life saving
Over four decades, Lassen has given voluntary service to netball and life saving in the Hawkes Bay.
After 15 seasons playing for the Hastings High School Old Girls’ Netball Club, she’s served as coach, secretary, umpire, sponsorship co-ordinator, and committee member. At Napier Girls’ High, she’s coached, umpired and managed teams, and has multiple awards for her service to the school game. She’s also served in various coaching and administration roles for Hawke’s Bay Netball since 1987.
For more than 45 years, she’s served as an administrator, instructor, and national examiner for the Royal Life Saving Society of New Zealand – receiving the Bar to Service Cross from the society in 2013.
Shirley Mackay – services to swimming
One of the stalwarts of Auckland swimming, Mackay has contributed her sport for more than 40 years. She been both president and chair of Swimming Auckland since the late 1980s and was awarded life membership in 2010. She’s led several major governance projects which modernised the sport and developed its membership, including merging with Swimming Northland.
Since 1982, she’s held various leadership roles at the Waitakere Swimming Club, continuing to support the club as its patron, and organises swimming meets for the Central and West Auckland zones. Mackay has received both the Jackie Clarke Award and a service award from Swimming New Zealand.
Vania Wolfgramm – for services to rugby
Black Fern and Sky Sport commentator Wolfgramm (nee Lavea) has laid significant paths in women’s and Pacific rugby development. She played for the Black Ferns XVs from 2003 to 2007, the Black Ferns Sevens in 2008, and made 45 appearances for Auckland in the Farah Palmer Cup.
She became a women’s rugby development officer with New Zealand Rugby in 2012, and later game development manager of women’s rugby. She was key in the development of the Ako Wāhine and Teine Toa programmes, providing leadership pathways for women and Pasifika youth in sport and governance.
Wolfgramm co-developed the Pasifika Cultural Competency programme, played a key role in shaping the current Pasifika Strategy and has fostered Pacific rugby at a grassroots level with the Pacific Aotearoa Cup. At the Marist Brothers Rugby Club, she mentors young players, directs club strategy and advocates for balanced resourcing between the men’s and women’s teams. She’s also one of the first Pasifika women analysts in New Zealand rugby broadcasting.
The King’s Service Medal (KSM):
Honey Amner – for services to sport
Honey Amner (Ngāti Kahungunu) has been an outstanding volunteer and a super-manager in local sport in Hawke’s Bay for more than 40 years – particularly in touch rugby, rugby and netball.
A national selector for all New Zealand and Māori touch teams from 2000 to 2014, Amner helped the growth of competitive touch by advocating for equitable recognition of high-level athletes. She’s been part of Hawke’s Bay Touch Rugby for 30 years, managing teams ranging from young children to senior grades.
Amner was team manager for the Hawke’s Bay women’s rugby team for 10 years, working alongside coaches and mentoring young players, and she’s supported Hawke’s Bay netball team from social through to representative, awarded Volunteer of the Year multiple times.
Karen Burrows – for services to sport and the community
New Zealand’s first female provincial rugby president, Burrows has been heavily involved with the Hokitika/Westland community.
She’s volunteered with Wests Rugby Club for more than 33 years – navigating the club through a period of hardship back to success. She’s held all officer roles in the club, and coached and managed young teams. In 2013, she made history as president of West Coast Rugby Union. A life member of both Wests Rugby Club and the West Coast Rugby Union, she’s volunteered with the Hokitika/Westland RSA for 23 years.
Marleen Morrison – for services to swimming administration
For four decades, Morrison’s unstinting volunteering has helped to grow swimming in Canterbury and New Zealand. From grass roots through to regional level, she’s been a staple at competitions – from organising meets through to announcer at national meets in Canterbury for 10 years. She’s held numerous roles in Wharenui Swimming Club, and run two of the top events for junior swimmers in the South Island.
Morrison has been a selector and regional delegate to Swimming NZ, and was a keen fundraiser for the Doreen Brown Trust, helping under-privileged kids to learn to swim. She’s been recognised with multiple Swimming NZ service awards.
