Lois Muir

Who is Lois Muir?

Dame Lois Joan Muir DNZM OBE is a New Zealand netball coach and administrator, and a former representative netball and basketball player. Muir represented New Zealand in two sports, playing with the Tall Ferns from 1952–1962 and the Silver Ferns from 1960–1963. She later became head coach of the Silver Ferns for 15 years from 1974–1988. During this time she coached the Silver Ferns to World Championships gold in 1979 and in 1987.

She was educated at Otago Girls' High School in Dunedin.

Muir was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to netball, in the 1984 New Year Honours and was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1993. With the start of the Coca-Cola Cup in 1998, she became coach of the Capital Shakers team. In August that year, she was also diagnosed with breast cancer. Muir continued to coach the Shakers until the end of the 2000 season. She also took up a coaching position with the Otago Rebels until the end of 2005.

In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Muir was appointed as a Distinguished Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of services to sports administration and netball. She accepted redesignation as a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009, following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government.