Rotorua Olympian Sarah Cowley is gunning for a place in the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic netball side.
Cowley, who represented New Zealand in heptathlon at the London Games this year, was a standout performer at the Magic trials held in Tauranga on Saturday.
The 28-year-old admitted to last playing a serious netball game 12 years ago when she was in the Bay of Plenty under-17 team.
Cowley said she wanted a new challenge after the Olympics and had never lost her love of netball.
"I always wondered about netball and getting back into it. I also wanted to be in a team environment and around a lot more women as athletics is quite a male-dominated sport.
"I haven't said goodbye to athletics yet. I am not ready to do that yet but over the summer I will get back into shape. I have been focusing on netball over the last month since I got back to prepare for these trials.
"It has been great and I have enjoyed it. I trained with the Bay team a couple of times and the Magic have been really supportive of me and have given me this opportunity.
"I don't have my netball brain switched on yet but I am learning and trying to accelerate that process as fast as possible."
A change to the format of the 2012-2013 ANZ Championship enables franchises to recruit 14 players rather than last campaign's 12, which is good news for those who tested out on Saturday under the watchful eyes of head coach Noeline Taurua and newly appointed assistant coach Tanya Dearns.
Dearns is pleased to be back in a hands-on role and is looking forward to working with a whole new group of players.
"It is refreshing because I don't know any of these players so you almost have like a blank canvas to do some work on, so it is really exciting," Dearns said.
"Noeline's thinking, and I am in full agreement with it, is that we use these trials to develop some sort of programme where we are developing above the Lion Foundation level but below the franchise.
"This gives us an opportunity to identify those players and those who aren't successful in making the 14 are there for extra training and building the depth. They have been in the environment and they know what to expect ...
"There is some real potential out here today with what we have got for the future because Leana [de Bruin] and Casey [Williams] are not going to be around forever, so we do need to build that depth and work hard on the next level."
The trials are doubly important for the Magic coaches as Dearns was unimpressed with the standard on display at last week's provincial finals at the TECT Arena in Tauranga.
"I was a little disappointed with the standard. No one really lit my fire to be honest.
"There were some good individual bits and pieces but there wasn't anything that really stood out in a consistent way which was disappointing."
Taurua would have been heartened to see the vastly experienced defender Jodi Tod in action at the trials. Tod had been with the Magic since the inception of the transtasman competition in 2008 but missed the last victorious campaign.
Her ability to play all three defensive positions makes her an invaluable member of any netball team.
The Magic squad will be announced on November 12.