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Betty Steffensen played for New Zealand in the days when netball was lumped in with basketball, there were nine players a side and the team had to pay for their own rain coats when touring Australia.
Steffensen was selected to play for New Zealand in 1960 and at 1.54m she is not the tallest shooter New Zealand has ever seen.
"There's no way they would take a shooter my size now," Steffensen said.
As a comparison, Irene Van Dyk is 1.9m tall.
She has kept in touch with her teammates and the game as the Silver Ferns' manager from 1980 to 1984, president of Manawatu Netball for 21 years and national vice-president for 12. She caught up with some other former Ferns at a special lunch yesterday. The silver Silver Ferns drank champagne while Malawi narrowly beat Wales and the Australians crushed Scotland. Former goalkeep Tanya Dearns is a more traditional height for the shooting circle at 1.87m.
She said the lunch was a chance to catch up on what happened on and off the court during her time with the Ferns from 1990 to 1999.
"Some people haven't seen each other for two or three years and some longer than 10 years," Dearns said.
She said in the 1990s the team were professional amateurs, but these days the Ferns are professional athletes.
She said the money and resources have increased.
"They're lucky, they get their own video. We had to play on memory and my memory is not that good."
The 1.84m tall Tania Dalton retired from the Ferns at the beginning of the year.
The former goal shoot and goal attack said being a former Fern is about being part of a special group.
"You know you've got something in common and shared a special experience. I've been in and out of the team for the last 10 years and still feel a part of it," Dalton said.
In terms of the tournament, Dalton said the Ferns had talent to burn and were looking sharp. She said the games were hard on the body but at least the courts were wooden sprung.
"Talk to some of the old ducks, they used to play on concrete," Dalton said.
