Netball: Decision time for coach

Coach Ruth Aitken will sit down with her family before deciding her netball future, but says working with the Silver Ferns is "a job I love."

Aitken arrived back in Auckland yesterday with five of the 12-member New Zealand squad who won the world title in Jamaica on Monday.

Her two-year contract expires at the end of the year, and she said she had not set a date for deciding whether to seek another term.

"I'll sit down with my family and see how they've coped with everything," she said.

"It's a job I love, and it's a fantastic opportunity. But I've got two young boys that need me in their lives as well, so it's a juggling act, which is what a lot of women do in their lives."

Aitken's husband, Grant, deputy principal at Paeroa College, and sons Michael, 12, and Jamie, 10, were at Auckland Airport to welcome her home.

Also there was a small group of Paeroa College staff.

Ruth Aitken taught English at the college until she went fulltime netball coaching with Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic and New Zealand A.

Her appointment as Silver Ferns coach in late 2001 after the dumping of Yvonne Willering caused surprise at the time.

But Aitken declined to get involved when asked if her team's defeat of defending champions Australia at Kingston had answered her critics.

"I'm not about negative thoughts like that," she said.

"I appreciate there was a lot of support for Yvonne and that was fine, but I just had to set about doing my job to the best of my ability, and what would be, would be.

"I'm delighted that everything came together at the right time."

She said the key to success was planning, team-work and the players' belief.

"For me, it was a case of making sure that all the players believed in the team and they were all involved.

"In the final, we used only the seven, but I knew we could have used any of the 12."

Like Aitken, none of the present Silver Ferns is talking about retirement, although she did not expect all to be available when the world tournament is next staged in 2007.

"However, it has been shown with the ones coming through, such as Vilimaina Davu and Sheryl Clarke, that there's always progress. People move on and new ones come in."

The Silver Ferns' triumph has allowed Aitken to join a select group - those who have won world championships as player and coach.

Aitken played in the New Zealand side who shared the world crown with Australia and Trinidad and Tobago 24 years ago.

There was no question which title gave her more satisfaction.

"When we won in 1979, it was a round-robin and it was a three-way tie, so it hasn't got this feeling.

"When we won this final, after the Aussies came back at us as a champion team always does, my heart just wanted to burst."

- STAFF REPORTER, NZPA