Louisa Wall: Netball role model gets reward

COMMENT

Netballer Amigene Metcalfe has finally been rewarded for her commitment and hard-work attitude.

So, Belinda Colling's withdrawal from the Silver Ferns tour of Australia next month isn't all bad.

Who is Amigene Metcalfe? The latest addition to the Silver Ferns and a consistent and regular performer in touch (for New Zealand) and netball (for Waikato) has waited patiently to represent her country at netball.

Metcalfe, 30, has been a member of the New Zealand women's touch team since 1995, when the touch World Cup was held in Hawaii. In 1998 and 2000, she was named New Zealand captain.

She is a 12-year Waikato stalwart who has played more than 100 games for the side.

Metcalfe was Waikato captain Jenny-May Coffin's player of the tournament as Waikato won the Smokefree title again this year.

What a comeback, as the nationals last month were her first competition after being absent from the game for a year following the birth of daughter Jorja.

Coffin was very disappointed for her colleague when she was not selected initially for the Silver Ferns (although she was named in the 18-player squad), stating that the Australian series was an opportunity to see if Metcalfe could match it with the best, given her longevity in the sport. Now she has that chance.

The Ferns will be without 77-test veteran Colling, who withdrew from the three-test series for personal reasons. It is interesting to note that Colling, 28, was named after she left for Scotland this year following the Fisher and Paykel series, where she was a standout performer.

Colling did not attend the nationals and announced her availability only for the Australian tour (which starts on November 13) last month.

Now the Canterbury Flames player has had a change of heart and there are doubts that she will play in next year's National Bank Cup. Is this "haere ra" to Colling in a Silver Ferns' uniform?

She needs some time out to settle in and to adjust to living in Scotland with her partner.

What would a professional rugby player do? Take time out from representing the All Blacks (and the accompanying salary) to settle in with a partner whose vocation has taken them to another country?

Belinda will be missed, but what a wonderful opportunity for a player like Metcalfe.

Self-selecting seems a luxurious position to be in. Other people wait all their playing lives for an opportunity to represent their country and others choose to decline the honour. But Colling is not alone. Dual basketball and netball international Donna Loffhagen was also named in the initial squad, but she also ruled herself out of the Australian series to concentrate on her studies after attending the Olympics.

Sport, life and other priorities require some fine balancing at times. If sport is your job then other considerations seem to be forsaken.

I think choices like this are reflective of women leading balanced, multi-dimensional lives and being able to balance sport and careers with everyday realities such as study, family and relationships.

Some people are brides many times over and others bridesmaids all their careers. Such is life, and it is satisfying to see an older player like Metcalfe who has been knocking on the door for many years now being rewarded.

Waikato coach Nicole Dryden describes Metcalfe as the "ultimate team-member". A player who always prioritises team needs above her own performance. It seems she has been physically and mentally prepared for years and a natural leader willing and able to perform for any team she represents.

To complement this, she and shooter Irene van Dyk have an amazing connection and Metcalfe's feeding of van Dyk is second to none.

Metcalfe is also a Sparc Winning Women Role Model, working among school students to raise the profile of female athletes and to boost the number of young people participating in physical activity.

She is a role model not only for students, but also for those 30-something players whose dream remains national honours. You can't be a Silver Fern if you don't play netball, so keep the dream alive. You never know when it may happen.

It seems the power of perseverance will win through in the end.

* Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand netball and rugby representative.