KEY POINTS:
For Tall Ferns youngster Toni Edmondson, the idea of playing professional basketball in her own back yard seemed like an impossible dream a few years ago.
But when the Christchurch Sirens were granted entry into the Australian women's basketball league this season, the 20-year-old Cantabrian was presented with the perfect opportunity.
The Sirens are perhaps the closest thing to professional women's sport in New Zealand and Edmondson was delighted to nab a contract with the newly formed franchise.
"It's going really well," the 1.81m guard/forward enthuses. "Getting to play week in, week out in this sort of professional environment is a whole new thing for me."
Also a promising volleyball player, Edmondson represented New Zealand at under-19 level in her high school years but has switched her focus to basketball since leaving school and was first selected in the Tall Ferns squad this year.
She hopes her time with the Sirens will help cement her place in the national line-up with the Tall Ferns looking to book a spot in next year's Beijing Olympics.
She is well positioned to do that, given the Sirens' close links with Basketball New Zealand and the Tall Ferns programme.
Sirens' coach, Australian Leigh Gooding, who is also the Tall Ferns assistant, has been impressed with Edmondson's development in her first WNBL season. "She's coming along very well, she's a long and lean player but she has fantastic athleticism and just gets better and better every week."
Edmondson impressed in the Sirens' most recent win over the Sydney University Flames last weekend, the Christchurch side's fourth consecutive victory. She turned heads with some athletic moves in her 18 minutes on the court, scoring seven points and grabbing six rebounds.
But she says it hasn't all been smooth sailing. After opening their season with a run of seven straight losses, spirits in the camp were low a month ago. The team was struggling to gel and looked out of their depth in the league.
But with four wins on the trot over the past month, Edmondson is confident things are back on track for the franchise.
"We all seem to be enjoying ourselves a lot more now.
