The Australian government has announced funding to help Samoa participate in the Netball World Cup in Sydney in August.
Netball Australia has been given AU$250,000 to ensure Samoa, Sri Lanka, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia can attend the tournament.
The financial boost is part of the Australian Sports Diplomacy Strategy for the next three years, which was launched yesterday.
A part of that program is the Pacific Sports Partnerships initiative, which the government says encourages participation in sport, improves health outcomes and provides mentoring and leadership opportunities for Pacific women and girls.
Samoa is 13th in the world netball rankings and are in the same pool as England, Jamaica and Scotland at the World Cup.
They will also compete at the Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea next month.
The Samoan netball team in Fiji for the Oceania Tri Series. Photo: Netball Samoa