Beach volleyball chance for Silver Fern to gain strength

Beach volleyball, a pastime perhaps more suited to Baywatch than Buller, has won the heart of one of the West Coast's better-known daughters.

Silver Fern and New Zealand indoor volleyball representative Anna Scarlett is sold on the sport.

Scarlett - from Karamea, a small town "literally at the end of the West Coast road" - is in Auckland for the More FM NZ Open Beach Volleyball Championships at Stanley St.

For Scarlett, 21, the competition is extra training for the netball season, which begins with a Rebels camp at the end of the month.

A session on the sandy confines of the beach volleyball court strengthens the legs for a winter playing netball, she says.

And 2005 is shaping up to be busy. After Rebels team training, a Silver Ferns camp is planned for February.

Then there is a netball series against England in March, and tests against Australia later in the year.

The season will be the opportunity for Scarlett, a 16-test Silver Fern, to work towards the 2007 world champs.

"When it comes down to it, netball will win over volleyball for the next three years."

Scarlett has represented New Zealand in indoor volleyball since 2001. It is a game she "can't really think of any bad things about".

Beach volleyball has certain advantages, particularly as it is a two-person team sport.

"Beach volleyball feels like an individual sport. You are going to touch the ball every rally, no matter what ... plus you are also out in the sun."

She and partner Rebecca Reidy will team up for the eighth time at the Stanley St championships, which start on Friday.

They were fifth at last weekend's pro-tour at Mt Maunganui, but Scarlett says their relationship has grown after each tournament.

But for all this beach volleyball, will Scarlett actually spend any time at the beach this summer?

She admits to having spent some time relaxing with a book on the beach at Mt Maunganui last week, but it didn't last.

"I can go to the beach and do nothing, but I can't sit still for too long."

The NZ Open tournament is limited to 12 teams in the men's and women's divisions, made up of five international combinations and the top seven local teams in both.

The tournament carries a total prize purse of $15,000 and is part of the 5-event MoreFM Pro tour. The other venues are Mt Maunganui, New Plymouth, Ohope Beach and Wellington.

Organiser Dave Mee said the tour had been around for more than a decade.

International teams were attracted because it provided them with good pre-season training.

Double passes

To be in a draw to win a $200 double pass to a corporate box at the volleyball on Friday, send an email through the link below.