NEW Zealand Olympic basketballer Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe is the newest Territory Storm Australian Netball League (ANL) recruit.

For more than a decade McMeeken-Ruscoe has been in and out of the Tall Ferns women`s side, realising her Olympic dream in Beijing last year.

At the weekend Pints Darwin Netball League`s star recruit debuted for the Storm in a host of ANL pre-season friendlies in Sydney.

In the 11 years since she last took netball seriously, training as a reserve for National Bank Cup side Wellington Shakers in 1998, the Kiwi travelled the world playing basketball in pursuit of Olympic selection.

After the buzz of playing in Beijing and a frustrating season with the Townsville Fire in the WNBL, a change was in order and Darwin her destination.

But netball never factored into what was supposed to "time off".

"I`m kinda laughing at myself now," she grinned. "At Christmas time if anyone would have asked me if I would have contemplated moving to Darwin I would have said no.

"If I had been asked a month ago if I wanted to play netball I would have said no.

"It was a disappointing season for me in Townsville, I didn`t play a lot after being a starter the previous season and of course the Olympic Games. It was a tough lesson to take and I needed a break from basketball.

"A job came up and here I am. I`ve never been scared of a new adventure."

Even for the self-professed "gypsy` - who has played basketball in Hawaii, New York, Germany, Cairns, at the Commonwealth Games and Olympics - landing in Darwin and a netball court of all things ranks as strange.

But it may just be the right road to London 2012.

She has already given away basketball for the short-term, opting not to return to QABL duties and remains undecided about resuming her WNBL career later this year.

And while her semi-retirement lasted less than a day on her arrival in Darwin - representing the NT at the Arafura Games - she has settled into a far less intense regime playing for Razzle in Darwin Basketball League.

In the off-season McMeeken-Ruscoe was just looking to stay fit, and that is where her netball detour began.

"I kinda asked if there was any netball or volleyball happening, because I had played both as a kid in New Zealand," she said.

"One thing just led to another - I went to training, then Thursday night I was playing (for Darwin Netball League club Pints) and the day after that I was training with the state team.

"London 2012 is still a big thing for me, but I`m just not sure how committed I`ll be. There are New Zealand camps later this year and early next year that I want to be a part of so staying fit is important and that`s another reason to play netball."