Mums ready to tackle younger brigade on tour

It was a juggling act to get there, but Northland's Suzy McAsey and Lenna Milton are fit and ready to go in the 2010 McEntee Hire Beach Volleyball Tour.
McAsey (nee Easterbrook), 36, and 30-year-old Milton are one of the more experienced teams contesting the four-stage tour, which kicks off on January 5-6 at Sumner Beach in Christchurch.

Trying to fit in training sessions alongside motherhood, family commitments and fulltime jobs has been hard over the past  year for both women but McAsey said they were feeling fit and confident.
 "Once again - we will be one of the oldest teams playing. Juggling being mums and working is always a challenge in terms of finding time to train ... but we are holding our own. Potentially we could do well as long as there is consistency throughout the tour," McAsey said.
The newly installed sand courts at Tikipunga High School have  been put to good use by the pair, who  trained on them with the help of Whangarei beach volleyball players Jason Woods and Kerry Prohl.
The team will need to be at their best as the depth of junior talent coming through is impressive, along with the top senior women, namely the duo of Anna Scarlett and Susan Blundell.
 Scarlett and Blundell, at 1.87m and 1.85m respectively, have been dubbed the "twin towers" of New Zealand beach volleyball and are  ranked 33rd in the world after a strong 2009 International Volley Ball Federation World Tour.
While  the Whangarei competitors are unfazed, they are  aware of the task ahead of them.
"There's about 30 teams competing this year which is about normal but the standard has been raised hugely ... it looks like it might be the toughest tour yet," McAsey said.
On Saturday, McAsey and Milton had their final hit-out before the tour at the Grand Slam event, in Mairangi Bay.
While they missed out on making the top eight, McAsey said they played well, particularly against a couple of international teams who turned up to compete.  In October, the pair went to World Masters Games in Sydney during October and they placed ninth in the women's 30+ age group.
Last season the duo finished the tour just outside their goal of making the New Zealand top eight and they have set the same goal to make the top eight this season.
If they make the top eight, they will qualify to play at the New Zealand Open in Auckland on January 22-24, which is also the final stage of the tour.
Last year's tour was made up of five stages but the Ohope Beach leg was dropped this season due to financial reasons.
"It's a shame as it was not quite as big and didn't have as many internationals playing. You could try to get a higher placing and earn more points there," McAsey said.
The tour starts at Sumner Beach  before heading to Wellington's Oriental Bay for a weekend tournament on January 9-10. Next up is a tournament at the home of New Zealand beach volleyball Mount Maunganui's Main Beach, on January 16-17, before the NZ Open at Auckland's ASB Bank Tennis Centre on January 22-24.