Janine Ilitch

Who is Janine Ilitch?

Janine Claire Ilitch is an Australian netball player. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

She has been a frequent member of the Australian national team, playing in her usual positions of goal keeper and goal defence, since being first selected in 1995. Ilitch has also been a key member of the Melbourne Kestrels in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy ever since the competition's founding in 1997, and served a stint as captain in 2004.

After years of playing second-fiddle to accomplished defenders Kathryn Harby-Williams and Liz Ellis, Ilitch finally cracked the Australian starting-seven in November 2004, where her combination with Australian captain Ellis played a major role in Australia's series victory against New Zealand. This combination was never to reach its true potential, when Ilitch took the 2005 season off due to being pregnant with her second child, and Ellis withdrew from the Australian team with a knee injury upon Ilitch's return. Ilitch won a place in Australia's silver-winning Commonwealth games team in 2006. After playing limited games with the Melbourne Kestrels in the 2006 Commonwealth Bank Trophy season, Ilitch announced her retirement.