Cotton bids Ferns farewell

By KATHERINE HOBY
Rebecca Cotton is soaking up every moment of the lingering summer sunshine.
The recently-retired Tall Fern stretches her long limbs at a Tauranga cafe table and lowers her sunglasses as she contemplates a future away from international basketball.
"I'd hate to count how many (back-to-back) winters I had in years leading up to '04," she says.
And 2004 was the crunch year for her. Worn out by a gruelling schedule and the Athens Olympics, she wanted nothing to do with the sport which had overtaken her life for nine years.
"After Athens I was wiped out, mentally burnt out," she explains. "I'd played something like 10 back-to-back seasons. For six months after that I barely broke a sweat and didn't want to see a basketball."
Coach Mike McHugh was the deciding influence to get her to continue playing. The pair were sitting in a cafe last year when McHugh twisted Cotton's arm for "just one more season".
With so many experienced players leaving, he needed someone to balance the inexperience of new members.
"I moved to the Mount and trained on the beach for God's sake. It had a different feeling about it," she says, hands waving exuberantly.
"I made the choice to play for different reasons. It was about putting back a little bit."
But the experience helped refresh her passion for the sport.
"It had become more like a job. And the newies get so excited by the little things. It's good to be reminded of those things."
Try as she might, Cotton can't hide the disappointment when she talks about losing the final to Australia at the Commonwealth Games last month.
"I was gutted not to get gold. Nobody goes to those competitions wanting anything less than gold."
She thought the team had a chance against the Australians but knew it would be a tough mission to beat them at home.
"I knew we would have to have an absolute blinder and Australia would have to have an average day. I was really disappointed we weren't able to make the final more competitive but it wasn't our day."
Cotton says an important difference is that the Australian team are all professionals.
Tall Ferns captain Donna Loffhagen is about to go professional but otherwise the New Zealand women all juggle basketball with the rest of their lives.
"We're studying and working and paying mortgages and fitting games and training in around that," Cotton says.
Melbourne was also the scene for another injury to Cotton's right ankle. The chronic ankle injury has been an ongoing problem for her and on the morning of the first game she injured it again, this time chipping bone fragments.
"I had nothing attached down there anyway and I didn't really want to know what had happened so I didn't get it scanned until later," she confesses.
"After that I had loads of anaesthetic and injections to get me on the court. I couldn't think of anything worse than being there and not playing."
With strong coaching from McHugh and assistant coach Shawn Dennis - "both Australians but they're okay", she laughs - and guidance from soon-to-depart Basketball New Zealand chief executive David Crocker, the sport in New Zealand has progressed enormously in the last few years, Cotton says.
"Basketball's come a long way but has a long way to go," she says. "I think the girls will close gap on Australia every game."
Cotton wants to remain an active person, meaning basketball won't disappear from her life.
She plans to start coaching the Western Bay of Plenty representative under-15 team and build on things from there.
"I have every intention of getting into coaching more fully in the next few years but I think I need to take a step back from basketball in a way," she says.
"It's not that I'm worn out about it. I am far more enthusiastic about basketball than I was after Athens but think I need to take a break."
As well as planning to complete her masters degree in sport management, Cotton is keen to throw herself more fully into her role as development officer for Sport Bay of Plenty.
Her employers have been "unbelievable" in the months since she took the job, allowing her time for training, overseas trips and the Commonwealth Games.
Again, she wants to give back.
But basketball was not always Cotton's first love.
Far from feeling embarrassed, she's grateful for the hours she spent at the barre during childhood ballet classes in Nelson for about eight years from the age of four.
"I'm kind of glad I did ballet now. There's nothing worse than seeing a six foot one girl hunched over," she says.
In the end she outgrew her pointe shoes - "they just don't make 'em in my size" she grins.
This time she's swapped her sneakers for flip-flops and the boards for the beach - and that's the way she likes it.
* Position: Forward
* Born: 23/8/74
* Height: 1.85m
* WNBL titles: one, 2001 (Wellington)
* WNBL awards: Tournament team 2000, 2001
* International debut: 1995
Cotton was one of the Tall Ferns' most experienced players, having represented New Zealand since 1995.
She attended college in the US, and has played professionally in Germany, Sweden and Australia. After playing at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she led the Ferns in the 2001 Oceania series against Australia.
Cotton contemplated retirement after the Athens Olympics, but came back to win silver at last month's Commonwealth Games.