Fiji on the attack against the Cook Islands Photo: Netball Fiji
The Fiji Pearls netball team will play in a Quad Training Series later this month in Suva as part of their preparations for the upcoming Netball World Cup in South Africa.
The other teams confirmed for the series are the Fiji men's team and the USC Thunder from the Queensland Sapphire Series.
Netball Fiji, with the support of the Fiji National Sports Commission, will host the series at the FMF Gymnasium in Suva from March 27-30.
Netball Fiji Chief Executive Officer Vivian Koster said the Series will be crucial for the Pearls ahead of the World Cup.
"Match play is an important component of World Cup preparations, as always the Fiji Men's Team have been part of that journey. With the USC Thunder in the upcoming Series we will have the opportunity to test out a different style of play, which can only enhance our game," Koster said on the Netball Fiji website.
The Quad Series will see Fiji Pearls squad members in the Fiji open team and Fiji mixed team plus the Pearls' development team.
The participating teams will play in a round robin format during the week, from Monday to Wednesday, and the finals are on Thursday.
Singapore exposure
Meanwhile, five members of the Fiji Pearls and one Netball Fiji Academy player will join the Pearls squad after playing in the Singapore Deloitte Netball Super League.
The six players - Nina Nakula, Reama Verekauta, Elina Drikibau, Unaisi Rauluni, Sereana Maragi and Jimaima Kete - left for Singapore last month.
Netball Fiji said the crossover to the Singapore Super League will assist these players with their game time exposure.
The Super League runs from February 4 to March 19.
Vivian Koster said they were thankful to Netball Singapore for providing an opportunity to Fiji's players to compete in their Super League competition.
"This is especially valuable in the World Cup year, where members of the Fiji Pearls squad will have regular game time for a month before coming home to play in the Quad Series at the end of March," Koster added.
Fiji Pearls is pooled with Tonga, Australia and Zimbabwe in Pool A at the World Cup, which will be held in July.
Fiji is currently ranked 19 in the world and will face 7th-ranked Tonga before taking on Australia (1) and Zimbabwe (13).
They qualified for the World Cup by finishing second behind Tonga in the Oceania qualifying tournament in July last year.
Pacific nations to play in series in Australia
The Pacific-Aus Sports Netball Series will be back in action with several new nations taking part.
African nations Kenya, Malawi and Zambia will compete against returning teams Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore and dual-series champions Tonga.
The six-day series, played at the end of April, will see teams split into two pools with final placings determined across two days of finals.
Some of the players currently competing in Singapore Photo: Netball Fiji