She helped the Ajax Miners beat the Tutus on Tour 53-26 during a Masters Games basketball match at the Edgar Centre yesterday.
The 47-year-old has been living in Dubai for the past 10 years but is back in Dunedin to compete at the games.
She has a couple of old high school friends in the Miners, and it was also a chance to visit her parents, Ray and Russell Garland, who she describes as "legends".
A fair description, really. Ray (70) and Russell (73) have been refereeing at the Masters Games for more than 25 years and are still pulling shifts out on court. The couple are life members of Basketball Otago and the sort of tireless servants who make events like the Masters Games run so smoothly.
Kelly arrived the afternoon of the first match and said she was "a bit rusty".
"But it was good to sweat out the jet lag. They are a lovely bunch of ladies.
"It is all about the chance to be with friends and have a laugh as well as enjoying being on court."
Kelly has been involved with basketball since leaving New Zealand and is trying to foster the sport in Dubai.
"There is not a huge amount of women’s basketball . . . and I’m quite involved with trying to get women playing and getting that happening," she said.
"It is such a great sport — especially when you have 45degC heat. There is nothing better than coming inside to run up and down."
Kelly is a lawyer but has spent the last five years looking after her daughter, Emma (17). Kelly and her husband, Stephen, plan to return to live in New Zealand in the future but for now are happy in Dubai.
They have bought a "forever home" in Arrowtown where they plan to retire, but Dubai has afforded them a wonderful lifestyle.
"Dubai has all of the stuff that you read about in the media and all of the stuff that you don’t.
"We live next door to school. My daughter has always biked to school. We lead a very normal life.
"You can be as glitzy as you want and go to the seven-star hotels, or you can go . . . and buy a two-dollar curry.
"We’ve really enjoyed Dubai."
