Netball: Aitken on lookout for variety and flexibility

Anna Scarlett is back on the training court with the Silver Ferns for the first time in three years. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Silver Ferns coach Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken is looking for variety and flexibility this week as she trims a 15-strong list of contenders to 12 for an international netball programme that will culminate with the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October.

The 12 will be named on Friday after a selection camp which began in Auckland yesterday and they will be involved in test matches against Samoa, Jamaica and Australia over August and September before heading to the Games.

Aitken said it was a case of looking for combinations that could cope with the special challenges of competing in India, as well as usual contingencies such as injury.

"We need to have a team that can cover in case of anything happening, so a bit of variety and flexibility within positions is really important," she said.

"Also bringing in players who have different styles of play - we have to compete against the aerial play of Jamaica versus the fast and furious style of Australia, and we have to ensure we have the personnel to cope with that."

Of the 17-strong Silver Ferns squad named two weeks ago to take New Zealand through to next year's world championship, Northern Mystics shooter Cathrine Latu and Central Pulse midcourter Camilla Lees are unavailable for either the Games or the six tests beforehand.

Latu is in a stand-down period after playing for Samoa at the 2007 world championship, while Lees is tied up with her medical studies.

Aitken said she had identified the core of her team, but there were "still some grey areas".

She admitted that Australian counterpart Norma Plummer's decision to leave out experienced goalkeeper Bianca Chatfield from a 15-strong Diamonds squad named on Monday did come as a surprise.

She believed Plummer was probably looking for greater elevation in the air to counter the taller shooters coming into the game, hence the inclusion of Amy Steel and Susan Fuhrmann.

Meanwhile, Aitken said she had no security qualms about going to New Delhi, adding that her husband would also be attending the Games.

Skipper Casey Williams was quoted last week as saying she was committed to leading New Zealand's defence of their Commonwealth crown, but had told her family not to join her in India.

For Aitken, it was a case of what each person was comfortable with.

"Yes, there are some challenges with going to that part of the world but 26,000 New Zealanders visit there every year and my husband is going," she said.

"In the end, it's about everyone's comfort zone. For us, if players feel more comfortable knowing that family are tucked up safe and sound at home, then they can get on and do the business."

Aitken was in the Indian capital last month on a site visit organised by the New Zealand Olympic Committee and she described the netball stadium as "fantastic".

"It's state of the art," she said.

"It's a world-class green venue. It uses solar energy and they're actually going to be putting back power into the grid. It's stunning."

- NZPA