SWEET FEET: Southern Steel netball player Daneka Wipiiti with a selection of her brightly coloured New Balance shoes.
It's not hard to spot Southern Steel shooter Daneka Wipiiti out on the netball court.
At 1.94m she's one of the tallest players in the trans-Tasman netball league, but that's not the only reason.
Most netballers are conservative and wear traditional white footwear, but not Wipiiti, who has a fascination for brightly coloured shoes and sports an impressive collection from her sponsor New Balance.
When the ANZ Championship was created four years ago, Wipiiti opted to switch from Asics to New Balance, and is the only netballer in New Zealand to be sponsored by the company.
"I turned over to these guys. No-one had them," Wipiiti said.
"Everyone had Asics, adidas or Nike. I wanted something a bit different. A couple of the other girls want to know if New Balance will take on any more sponsorship now. I hope they don't and stay with me," she laughed.
Wipiiti gets shoes sent to her whenever she requests them or a bright new pair comes into the store. When her daughter Kilani-Mae was born 14 months ago, even she got her own wee pair.
Wipiiti's favourite at the moment is what she dubs "the liquorice pair" – an eyecatching pink, black, blue and yellow colour combination.
Wipiiti is a keen fashionista and said her shoe obsession was all a bit of fun.
"It's one of those things. Tennis girls have their outfits. At the moment, I'm pretty much known for my shoes. It's quite nice to have something a bit different."
Some of Wipiiti's Steel team-mates were a little envious of her amazing array of shoes and she confessed that, now and again, she would let them try them on.
"The other girls have had a run around in them at training. They can try them on and feel important for five seconds.
"They wish their sponsors would pull something like that out for them."
Wipiiti's team-mates are not the only ones coveting her shoes.
A Queensland Firebirds' supporter offered her $300 for her "liquorice" numbers in Brisbane earlier this season.
Wearing such bright footwear means Wipiiti is a constant target for television cameras and spectators, but the Silver Fern international did not feel any extra pressure out on court.
"I have been told if I ever get called for stepping, I'm not allowed to wear them again. (Steel coach) Robyn (Broughton) thinks I'll attract the umpires to my feet."
Wipiiti is a huge lover of the colour purple and admitted it would be her dream to design her own shoe featuring those shades.
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