Joline Henry has to keep a close eye on the Commonwealth Games gold medal that sits proudly on the mantelpiece of her Hamilton home.
"My dad wants it. He's desperate to claim it.
"I had to do a deal with him that I get to keep it for the first year, and then he can have it," says the Wanganui netball ace of the medal she won with the Silver Ferns at last October's Games in Delhi. Henry likes to take it with her as a motivating symbol for youngsters when she does the rounds promoting the sport with the Ferns.
"The kids get to touch it ... it just makes it more real."
If she lands another gold medal at the World Championships, which start in Singapore on Sunday, perhaps the Commonwealth gong will head to Wanganui and her mum and dad, Aroha and Joe, before the 12-month deal is up.
Of course, the might of defending world champs Australia stands in the way. The Aussie Diamonds beat New Zealand 42-38 in the 2007 final and Henry was there on court in Auckland to feel the pain.
"It was not a good feeling."
She had also suffered some battered pride a year earlier when she was dropped by the Ferns just before the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne when the Kiwis downed the Aussies in the final, as they did last year. Victory in Delhi made up for those disappointments, and now netball's two superpowers are likely to square off again.
They have just met in a two-test series, with Australia pulling the Ferns apart in the second half in Palmerston North, and New Zealand redressing the balance at Auckland's Vector Arena.
"We had not had a lot of time together when we played them in Palmerston," says Henry. "They were a lot of individual errors and we have to learn from them."
Auckland was a lot more promising. "We tried new strategies and we got 10 or 11 players out on court and experiencing the pressure of playing Australia. We rarely get that many players on court."
The 28-year-old defender, a member of the Northern Mystics after a successful spell with Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, is confident about the preparation for Singapore, but she does not necessarily see the World Championships as the usual two-horse race. Jamaica and England could clearly pose a threat and Henry says every team will hold a different challenge.
"We have to be wary of new teams like South Africa and Samoa. They will challenge us in different ways." That should suit Henry. On her Silver Ferns player profile she says the best thing about netball is "challenging yourself".
She started doing that as a child in Castlecliff. "My dad put a netball post at the back of our house, my mum was a very good player ... I didn't have much choice but to be good at netball."
She played at her school, Te Kura o Kokohuia, before heading on to Wanganui Collegiate. At 13 she was in the New Zealand under-21 squad and on her way to a fulltime career. She has had two seasons with the Auckland-based Mystics, edging out her old team the Magic in this year's transtasman ANZ Championship semifinal by a point and then facing the Queensland Firebirds in May's grand final.
"It was really exciting to be part of finals netball with a franchise that had never been there before," she says.
"I had been there with the Magic but a lot of the Mystics girls hadn't, and they had a real hunger and passion."
Of course, the Firebirds, who went through the season unbeaten, proved too strong in the final in Brisbane, and no New Zealand team has won the championship. "The Aussies have a lot more depth than we do, but the gap is closing," says Henry, adding that Australia's more demanding national competition had better prepared them for the transtasman competition.
Now it is back to the international battle and next week Henry will be adding to her 50-plus caps.
She has played a number of positions for the Silver Ferns but coach Ruth Aitken looks to have settled on her as wing defence. "It's a bit scary when I'm put in at centre and it is good to be cemented in one position - there is a danger of becoming a jack of all trades and master of none. However, when you're in a team, you do what is needed for the team, so I'll play anywhere - I'll do handstands or run on with the oranges if it means a gold medal."
Henry will have a bit of extra support in Singapore - her parents fly out there tomorrow. It is the first time Joe and Aroha have been out of New Zealand and their daughter is treating them. "After the World Championships I'm taking them for a holiday to Malaysia. They've looked after me for long enough, so it's my turn to do something for them."
After more than 10 years as a student at Waikato University and with degrees in sport and leisure and psychology and a Master's majoring in psychology, it's strange to hear Henry say she doesn't have a clue what she will do when her netball career is over.
"I'm waiting for an epiphany. I have tried a bit of coaching but I wasn't too enthusiastic, but I'd like to give something back to the sport in some way. Whatever I do afterwards, I'd like it to involve doing something for young Maori people."
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Latest from Sport
Fomer Whanganui athletes making statements
Former local athletes are performing well nationally and internationally.