Kellie Henning used to play basketball to win. Now the former Canberra Capitals skipper and a group of her old teammates are playing for fun, and they're turning heads in a Thursday night competition.
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Henning, Tracey Peacock, Michelle Cosier and two-time Olympian Fiona Hannan are part of an intimidating women's basketball team dubbed "Capasauras" because of their WNBL history and their ageing bodies.
Some of their opponents have turned up and looked in disbelief when they realised they were about to play against a team boasting 21 WNBL championships and two WNBL life members.
"But we're really just playing because we enjoy it, and it's fun. Basketball, and sport in general, is a great way to bring people together," Henning (nee Abrams) said.
"It just makes me happy. We get some good laughs, we have jokes about things we've done or the memories we've got. Tracey shot an air-ball in the first week and we all laughed about how some things never change.
"Peta Sinclair is as blind as a bat and passed the ball into the back of someone's head. This is a real social thing for us, getting together every Thursday. We get to spend time together, our time away from work or motherhood or whatever, to enjoy each other's company for an hour and do what we love."
Henning played in six of the Capitals' seven WNBL titles and led the club through a successful era. Peacock was a grand final most valuable player and even came out of retirement this year to play in the South East Australian Basketball League.
Then there's Cosier, who is now a WNBL referee, Sandy Tomley, Katie Rose, Sinclair and Hannan. So far they're undefeated after four games in women's A grade, scoring averaging 77.75 points per game while conceding just 37.75.
It's easy to see they're dominating even though they're playing in the highest level in Canberra's social leagues, but their motivation is driven by a love of the game.
The idea to end their respective retirements came about when Henning was chatting to Cosier's husband, Simon, at a Capitals pre-season game this year. Simon took care of the new uniforms and the players dusted off their shoes.
"[Michelle Cosier] still goes a bit hard, but still not as hard as how she used to play. She's averaging something like 40 points per game, I honestly think she's still got it," Henning laughed.
"You never lose that competitive edge, I guess it's something that's built in. But that's not the purpose we're there, we're just there to have fun.
"I went through the AIS with Tracey, we've known each other since we were 16 years old and it's just good to be out there spending time together."
