Karin Burger (born 12 April 1993) is a New Zealand netball international who plays for Sunshine Coast Lightning in the Super Netball. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2026 Commonwealth Games and 2019 Netball World Cup. After captaining New Zealand for the first test of the 2025 Taini Jamison Trophy Series, she was given the job permanently for the 2025 Constellation Cup and 2025 New Zealand netball tour of Great Britain. Burger was a member of the Pulse teams that won 2019 and 2020 ANZ Premiership titles and of the Tactix team that won the 2025 ANZ Premiership title. While playing for Tactix, she was named 2021 ANZ Premiership Player of the Year.
Early life and family Burger was born and raised in South Africa. Her family home is in Vredendal, Western Cape. She is daughter of Alma and Gerrit Burger. She has a sister, Almarie, and a brother Gerrit Junior. Burger started playing netball aged 6. In her youth, she greatly admired Irene van Dyk and Leana de Bruin. At aged 18, she made the decision to move to Wellington, New Zealand to pursue a netball career.
Club career Naenae Collegians United Burger began her New Zealand netball career with Naenae Collegians United in Lower Hutt. She played for NNCU in Hutt Valley club netball competitions. While playing for Central Pulse, Burger continued to coach and mentor at NNCU.
Central Zone In 2016 and 2017, Burger played for Central Zone in the Beko Netball League. Her team mates included Tiana Metuarau and Kimiora Poi. In 2016 she was a member of the Central Zone team that finished the season as runners up to Netball South. She was subsequently named the 2016 Beko Netball League Player of the Year. In 2017 she was a member of the Central Zone team that won the title. In the grand final they defeated Hellers Netball Mainland 43–41 and Burger was named player of the match.
Central Pulse Between 2017 and 2020, Burger played for Central Pulse in the ANZ Premiership. After impressing in the Beko Netball League, Burger was invited by Yvette McCausland-Durie to join the Pulse squad for 2017. However, her court time was limited in her first season with Katrina Grant being the first chose goal defender. She switched to wing defence for 2018 and went on to establish herself as a regular member of the team. She was subsequently a member of the Pulse teams that won 2019 and 2020 titles. Along the way, between 2018 and 2019, Burger played in three successive grand finals for Pulse.
Mainland Tactix In September 2020, Burger switched from Central Pulse to Mainland Tactix. The move to Tactix gave her the opportunity to play at goal defence and to partner with her New Zealand team mate, Jane Watson. She subsequently enjoyed a stand out season and was named the 2021 ANZ Premiership Player of the Year. On 7 May 2023, she made her 100th senior league appearance in a Round 10 match against Northern Stars.
Sunshine Coast Lightning Burger was recruited to play for the 2026 Suncorp Super Netball season.https://sunshinecoastlightning.com.au/karin-burger-signs-with-lightning/. In August 2026 it was announced that Burger was contracted to the Sunshine Coast Lightning for 2027 also.
International career Burger made her senior debut for New Zealand on 15 September 2018 against England during the September 2018 Netball Quad Series. It was a debut that was memorable for the wrong reasons, as she was sent off the court. She was a prominent member of the New Zealand team that won the 2019 Netball World Cup. She was also a member of the New Zealand team that won the 2021 Constellation Cup. Burger had to pull out of trials for the 2022 Commonwealth Games due to a navicular fracture in her foot. After captaining New Zealand for the first test of the 2025 Taini Jamison Trophy Series, she given the job permanently for the 2025 Constellation Cup and 2025 New Zealand netball tour of Great Britain. Burger was named in the squad as the Captain for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where the Silver Ferns won their first Commonwealth Games gold medal in 16 years, defeating Jamaica in the final.
Tournaments Place2018 Netball Quad Series (September)3rd2018 Fast5 Netball World Series2019 Netball Quad Series3rd2019 Netball World Cup2019 Constellation Cup2020 Netball Nations Cup2020 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2021 Constellation Cup2021 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2nd2022 Netball Quad Series3rd2023 Netball Quad Series2023 Netball World Cup4th 2023 Taini Jamison Trophy Series1st2023 Constellation Cup2nd 2024 Netball Nations Cup3rd 2024 Taini Jamison Trophy Series2nd2024 Constellation Cup1st2025 Taini Jamison Trophy Series1st 2025 Constellation Cup2nd2025 New Zealand netball tour of Great Britain2026 Commonwealth Games1st
Statistics Grand finals Grand finals Team Place Opponent12018Central PulseRunners upSouthern Steel22019Central PulseWinnersNorthern Stars32020Central PulseWinnersMainland Tactix42021Mainland TactixRunners upNorthern Mystics
ANZ Premiership
|- style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2017 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse |0/0||?||4||?||?||5||7||27||3||10
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2018 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse |0/0||?||1||?||?||28||37||172||25||16 |- style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2019 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse |0/0||?||2||?||?||41||79||149||27||16
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2020 |style="text-align:center;"|Pulse |0/0||?||0||?||?||22||37||123||21||14 |- style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2021 |style="text-align:center;"|Tactix |0/0||?||27||142||?||48||69||189||29||17
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2022 |style="text-align:center;"|Tactix |0/0|| || || || || || || || || |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2| Career ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Honours
New Zealand Commonwealth Games: 2026 Netball World Cup: 2019 Constellation Cup: 2021, 2024 Netball Nations Cup: 2020 Taini Jamison Trophy: 2020, 2023, 2025 Fast5 Netball World Series: 2018
Central Pulse ANZ Premiership: 2019, 2020, Runners up: 2017, 2018 Netball New Zealand Super Club: 2018
Mainland Tactix ANZ Premiership: 2025 Runners up: 2021
Central Zone Beko Netball League: 2010, Runners up: 2016
Individual honours Year Award2016Beko Netball League Player of the Year2021ANZ Premiership Player of the Year2021Fan Favourite
References
External links