The Kauri Me Off netball team, of which all but two of the eight players are over 60, has its origins in Ravensbourne. Several of the team have played together for more than 40 years.
The memories are hazy, but team stalwarts believe they have taken part in the Dunedin leg of the New Zealand Masters Games since the early 1990s.
Not only are they regulars at the Dunedin games but the majority of the team has trekked to Hobart, Fiji and the United States for golden oldies tournaments.
What keeps them going, other than beverage-based fortitude? Team captain Judy Purvis said orthopaedic supports were a big help.
‘‘Knee brace, knee brace, knee brace,'' she said, pointing at her team-mates' legs.
They were grateful to be inside the Edgar Centre this year as they reminisced about the harsh days outside.
‘‘We were in a tent down where the Astroturf is now [Logan Park] and it was flooded,'' one said.
‘‘We needed our gumboots to play there,'' another added.
The only disappointment for the team members was the absence of team leader and ‘‘camp mother'' Denise Shackleton.
She was the driving force behind the side for 20 years but missed this year's games due to injury.
The Kauri name has been used for other sports such as volleyball and indoor netball over the years, with variations like Kauri Me Over and Kauri Me On.
‘‘One year we played all those at once - we didn't do it again after that,'' Purvis said.
‘‘I just about died.''
You get the feeling they will be back again - with knee braces in place - when the Masters Games next returns to Dunedin.
‘‘It's the friends,'' Purvis said.
‘‘We actually do love netball and I want to play it forever.''
