Netball: Loffhagen leaves Silver Ferns

WELLINGTON - The Silver Ferns will be without Donna Loffhagen for the five-test domestic netball series.

She withdrew yesterday to concentrate on her Olympic basketball commitments.

Loffhagen, the rangy Southern Sting shooter, made it clear from the outset that if selected for the Olympics, her focus for 2000 would be basketball.

She had felt she could successfully combine both sports and made herself available for both, but the decision appears to have taken its toll.

Her manager, Karen Brown, said the dual workload and associated demands meant she could not do justice to both.

Loffhagen, who featured in the New Zealand women's basketball series against Slovakia and helped the Southern Sting to win the national league title, was well below her best in the Silver Ferns' 30-53 loss to Australia on Tuesday.

"It has been demanding but it's not a decision she's made lightly," Brown said.

"Donna's competitive nature meant she wanted to try to play both sports and do as much as she could, but I think with the pressure of gaining selection in the Olympic team she has decided that is her ultimate dream goal.

"She really needs to focus on that now and that's what she has decided to do."

Brown said Loffhagen had been mulling over the decision for some time and it had not come as a result of the Silver Ferns' and her own lacklustre effort against Australia.

"Since the final of the Coca-Cola Cup she's had a bit of the flu, and because it's been so full-on with travelling, playing and doing the basketball trials she has never really got over it.

"I think her body was saying she needed to make a choice."

Loffhagen was unavailable for comment, but Brown said she was having a couple of days away to shake the flu.

Brown said she had no doubts Loffhagen would return to netball once the Olympics were over.

In a prepared statement, Loffhagen said she felt she was letting the Silver Ferns down but the Olympics were a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Having regard to the importance of an Olympic campaign, I also feel I owe it to my basketball team members to devote my fulltime attention in that area.

"I have had many rewarding years with netball and I would certainly hope that once my Olympic commitments are finished I can return to make a positive contribution to netball."

Teresa Tairi, who missed initial Silver Ferns selection and has been named in the Pasifika team to play the Silver Ferns in two tests next week, looks a likely replacement.

- NZPA