Tomorrow heralds a new era for netball in Bay of Plenty but Sunday can't come soon enough for defensive lynchpin Jodi Tod, giving her her first netball-free day in weeks.
Tod has been dreaming hoops, bibs and intercepts for the past month, with the buildup to tomorrow's debut in the national championships' first division for Bay of Plenty at Tauranga's new TECT Arena coming slap-bang in the middle of a hectic run of off-court action for the former Silver Ferns squad member.
Tod coached Bethlehem College at the upper North Island secondary schools tournament last week in Tauranga, and has this week been plotting a course for 13-year-old daughter Emerson's Mt Maunganui Intermediate team at the 4600-student AIMS Games.
Two months ago the lanky defender ruled herself out of Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic for next year's transtasman netball league, saying it was time for a break.
On the eve of Bay of Plenty's clash with reigning national champions Canterbury, the idea of a break is sounding even nicer.
"As much as I'm looking forward to our first game in the first division I'm pretty keen for Sunday to roll around after my second week in a row on the sideline as coach," Tod said.
"I've enjoyed coaching but it's pretty exhausting. Emerson's pretty good, although every now and then she'll look over at me and get me to try and fix stuff that's happening out on court, and the difference between coaching a secondary school team and at AIMS Games is huge. I could tell the Bethlehem girls just to stand up and get out there, whereas these [Mount Intermediate] students tend to get more excited and still want to have some fun on and off the court."
Bay of Plenty won through to the top-six at national level last year, topping the second division after round-robin and beating Western 55-51 in a televised promotion-relegation playoff. Rotorua won national A grade four times between 1964 and 1967, having gone up from second grade in 1954, before the change was made in the 1980s to Bay Coast and Bay of Plenty.
Tod said the province had plenty to prove after leaving their more-fancied rivals back in the second division.
"It will be a baptism of fire this weekend against a Canterbury side that is literally the Tactix [ANZ Championship] side, but we worked hard last year to get into division one and need to prove to a few critics why we're there.
"There's people around thinking "who is Bay of Plenty, why are they in first division, they're not even a region", but all the work that's gone in at age-group level has built a strong core and any critics only help build resolve."
After Saturday, Bay of Plenty take on Southland in Gore on September 11 before playing Wellington back at Baypark the following week and Auckland Waitakere away on September 25. Their final round-robin game is against Otago on September 28 during national tournament week in Porirua, followed by the playoffs.
There are no easy games, Tod says, with the jump in standard amplified last weekend when the side was thumped by 20 goals by Auckland Waitakere in a pre-season hitout played over five periods.
"We were spanked, and it was a big eye-opener for a few of the girls. There were a couple of positives to come out of it but I hope that's our [bad] game out of the way, our one where we shake off some cobwebs and throw away some ball.
"Some of the girls saw [Silver Fern] Catherine Latu put on a dress and probably thought 'oh no, she's going to be playing', but I suspect they're under no illusions now of how big the step will be."
Having four of the squad - Tod, Erena Mikaere, Arahi Wall and new Silver Fern Juliana Naoupu - involved in the Magic was a boost and the team's preparation under trainer/physiotherapist Roger Athy-Knibbs had also ramped up this season, although coach Mary Jane Araroa is demanding more out of her attacking end.
"If there was a chance being too cruisy going into this weekend then that should have blasted out of us in that loss to Auckland Waitakere," Araroa said.
"Raising our game by one level every week isn't enough, we need to be improving every game and raising that bar.
"We had enough possession to compete and they only shot the ball five more times than us but our shooting percentages weren't good enough.
"Our defensive end was fine but there's no room for our attacking end to drift in and out of a game."
Tomorrow's game is at 7pm, with general admission tickets $10 for adults and just $5 for children.
Bay of Plenty Gold: Jodi Tod, Erena Mikaere, Juliana Naoupu, Arahi Wall, Amy Christophers, Tanya Lund, Halana Leith, Simmon Howe, Ursula Pritchard, Laura McDonald, Harley Smith, Melissa Ruru, Candyce Edwards.
National championships first round draw:
Division one: Saturday: Bay of Plenty v Canterbury (TECT Arena). Sunday: Auckland Waitakere v Wellington, Otago v Southland.
Division two: North v Eastern, Counties Manukau v Tasman, Waikato v Western.