Netball: Scarlett - I'd love to be back in Ferns

Anna Scarlett says she hasn't given up her dream. Photo / Martin Sykes

Double international Anna Scarlett has not given up her dream of playing a role in a world championship-winning Silver Ferns - but admits there would need to be a change of coach for it to happen.

The 26-year-old, preparing for the New Zealand Open beach volleyball tournament starting in Auckland tomorrow, said being dropped by coach Ruth Aitken on the eve of the 2007 world champs "will always be a real sore spot in my sporting career".

The ultra-competitive defender took her axing personally, believing she had trialled well enough to stake a claim for a starting place as hosts New Zealand unsuccessfully defended the title they won in Jamaica four years earlier.

"My goal was to be in the starting line-up and win the world champs in 2007. I desperately wanted that. I won gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, I was at the 2003 world champs but didn't get on the court, so I really wanted to be a key player. It wasn't to be ... I didn't really know where I stood in that team."

The naming of that world championship squad was a confusing time for Scarlett as Aitken had clearly lost confidence in her, although it seems the feeling was mutual.

Asked whether the coach would have to change before she attempted an international comeback, Scarlett paused before deciding to dispense with diplomacy: "I think so, yes.

"A few things might need to change for me to go back but I do miss the sport. I'd be lying if I said I didn't."

Scarlett believed the skills and strategies she had learned through beach volleyball would make her a better netballer. But she was not so sure if netball's authorities were doing such a good job with developing pathways for young talent.

"Because netball's New Zealand's No 1 women's sport it concerns me a lot that the development is so limited.

"The ANZ Championship is awesome but there's so many imports, there's so many older players being brought back in, there's no young players getting exposure because none of the franchises can afford to have a development squad underneath," she said.

"There's no tournament a step below the ANZ champs from where you could pull players.

"Club netball is nowhere near the standard required to step up and the NPC is too small to get the necessary development.

"It's really concerning. I mean, Temepara George retired for how many years and they had to bring her back because they had nobody to replace her."

George pulled out of the Ferns in 2007 before returning last year.

Scarlett believed shooting combinations could prove tricky when Irene van Dyk finally retired.

Scarlett, who played for Auckland-Waitakere in last year's NPC, has her sights firmly set on the London Olympics with beach volleyball, but would weigh up her sporting options after the Games.