When Adine Wilson MNZM broke the news of her impending King's Birthday Honour to her husband, it was greeted with fairly lowkey celebration.
Former rugby/cricket double international Jeff Wilson already had a bunch of letters after his name, so now, the balance of royal favour within the household has been restored.
"I think I came home from work and said, 'Hey, guess what I received in my inbox today'," recalled Adine, a Silver Ferns netball international from 1999-2007 and captain for her final three years.
"He's not someone to go, 'Oh my gosh, that's amazing'. It was more like, 'Nice, high five... now we've got one together, so that's amazing'."
Wilson, 44, is probably best known for her oncourt prowess, as part of a world champion NZ team in 2003, before leading the Ferns to Commonwealth Games gold at Melbourne 2006.
After retirement, she stepped straight onto the NZ Netball Players Association board, which she chaired from 2017-23 and served as executive manager from 2015-21, helping guide the transition into a semi-professional era.
"Once upon a time, players only got $500 and the year after we got the association together, they got a minimum of $15,000," she recalled. "Being able to galvanise everybody to come together and have a voice was pretty special."
"It's something my family instilled in me - when you play sport, you give back. Mum coached and others managed.
"It gives you so much, but you've got to give back too."
Since 2018, she has served as an athlete mentor for the Tania Dalton Foundation, a support network established in memory of her former teammate, who tragically collapsed and died, while playing touch rugby.
These days, Wilson is a TV commentator and a member of the Integrity in Sport and Recreation Commission establishment board.
"It's come off the back of a bunch of different reviews over the years that have been quite sad, about integrity in sport, whether it's match manipulation, player welfare and also Drug Free Sport.
"It's really ensuring participants and their organisations are setting up the right policies and putting things in place, so everyone gets a fair shot at it.
"It's exciting."
Wilson now joins hubby Jeff as a Member of the NZ Order of Merit and joins several others in this latest batch of honours that have served sport in some capacity during their lives.
Notable among them are women's sport proponent Katie Sadlier (CNZM), former Olympic cyclist Stephen Cox (CNZM), former Wimbledon tennis finalist Chris Lewis and Women in Sport co-founder Julie Paterson (MNZM).
King's Birthday Honours
CNZM (Companion of NZ Order of Merit)
Mary Lee - for services to snow sports and tourism
Lesley Milne - for services to rowing
Catherine Sadleir - for services to sports governance and women
ONZM (Officer of NZ Order of Merit)
Dr Patricia Bradbury - for services to sport and education
Stephen Cox - for services to cycling
Allison Ferguson - for services to netball
Meri Gibson - for services to dragon boating and breast cancer awareness
Christopher Lewis - for services to tennis
Patricia Lindsay - for services to netball and governance
Leslie McCutcheon - for services to the thoroughbred and harness racing industries
MNZM (Member of NZ Order of Merit)
Phillip Lam - for services to martial arts
Ian Godfrey - for services to surf lifesaving and water safety education
Grant Harrison - for services to volleyball
David Henshaw - for services to archery
Rex Kerr - for services to the community and rugby
Frederick Lewis - for services to philanthropy and sport
Anthony McGovern - for services to the racing industry
Julie Paterson - for services to women and sport
Allison Todd - for services to equestrian coaching and water safety
Jocelyn Urbahn - for services to surf lifesaving and squash
Adine Wilson - for services to netball
KSM (King's Service Medal)
John Bray - for services to rugby league
Sandra Burrow - for services to swimming
Patricia Carrick-Clarke - for services to sport, particularly cricket
Mervyn Gore - for services to rugby league
Marilyn Milne - for services to netball
Linda-Lee Odom - for services to people with disabilities and sport
