Mum's the word - Cooper may make Ferns

Tipped for stardom as a teenager, Otaki's Katarina Cooper all but disappeared from the netballing landscape eight years ago.

Now 27, the midcourter is on the cusp of a shock return to the fray, expected to be named in the wider Silver Ferns squad today.

It would be tempting to say it is a meteoric rise for the gutsy mother of two. After all, she has made only fleeting appearances at ANZ Championship level. But that would do a disservice to the hard work and toil she has put in to reach this point.

It is almost eight years to the day the New Zealand under-21 side - featuring Casey Williams (now Kopua), Laura Langman and Maria Tutaia - won the World Youth Cup in Miami. The class of 2005 was considered a bumper crop, all but three of the 12-strong team becoming Silver Ferns.

Cooper was supposed to be a key member of that team. Instead, she was at home in Otaki preparing to give birth to her first child at 19.

That was really the last we heard of her until she briefly cropped up in the Central Pulse side last season. She would turn up to NPC tournaments every year and star for the Western team, but transtasman league contracts were not forthcoming. At provincial level, she usually played in the defensive circle and at 1.80m was not considered tall enough to play defender at the top level.

Robyn Broughton took a punt, however, and picked her as a midcourter for last year's transtasman league. Her return generated a buzz. She starred for the Pulse in the league's preseason tournament and quickly established her place in the starting line-up. But when her knee crumpled in round 13 last year, so did any hope that she might push on for higher honours. With a knee reconstruction in the off-season, Cooper didn't pick up an ANZ contract this year. It seemed her fairytale comeback was over.

"It was pretty gutting," she said.

But her big break came disguised as a minor opportunity, when she was asked to play for Central in the national under-23 tourney as one of two "over-age" players. She made such an impact that she was invited to this week's trials.

It's been a thrill.

"I hope I'm a role model to the girls who have kids young and I can prove that it shouldn't stop you from achieving your dreams," she said.

Katarina Cooper

Born: 12/01/86 in Otaki

Height: 1.80m

Positions: C, WD

Previous national squads: NZ U21 (2005)

Children: Hennessy, 8, Maika, 6