Wales will represent the northern hemisphere at New Zealand’s first international Super Club netball competition next month.
The new Welsh club, whose name has not yet been announced, will compete with teams from Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania during the Super Club event in Nelson.
The five visiting teams will join the top three clubs from New Zealand’s ANZ Premiership for the Super Club tournament at the 1,662-seat capacity Trafalgar Centre in Nelson from Sunday, July 2 until Friday, July 7.
Eight teams will take part and matches are to be broadcast internationally on Sky Sports 4.
The Welsh club’s name, logo, coaching staff and players will be announced over the next week or so.
Players are likely to be drawn from the cream of netball in Wales, while they could also be selected from Superleague club Celtic Dragons, whose team includes import players Kalifa McCollin, from Trinidad and Tobago, and Kiwi Stacey Peeters.
Welsh Netball chief executive Sarah Jones says: “This is exciting for Netball in Wales, being the only team from the northern hemisphere to be invited to participate in this brand new global club competition.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for us to expose our players to World class international netball. Our super club athletes and management will gain invaluable experience and bring the knowledge back to Wales.
“What better way to grow the game and inspire success at home than to demonstrate how netball is on the rise across the world, and that Wales is very much part of the changing landscape.
“It is another exciting venture for us at Welsh netball in what has already been a huge year in terms of pushing the boundaries of the sport.
“This is also an opportunity for us to strengthen our relationship with Netball New Zealand, which we began building in February when Cardiff hosted the Silver Ferns for the first time in two decades.”
The Super Club event will comprise 20 matches over five days with one day set aside for teams to engage with the local community.
Netball NZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie says the competition was brought to life after the split between New Zealand and Australia’s trans-Tasman competition. The ambition is to allow a deeper pool of players to experience international netball.
Australians Southern Steel will be one of eight teams taking part. They will represent New South Wales Institute of Sport and they will select players from the Swifts and Giants.
Nelson’s Trafalgar centre has been described as a ‘World class venue’ by Wyllie.
Silver Ferns played the Jamaican Sunshine Girls in Nelson last year and Wyllie said the city was a standout prospective host due to its strong regional support.
“We were really keen to take this sort of event to a place that showcases New Zealand for its beautiful countryside, industry and community,” said Wyllie.
“We had a number of options, but we worked with Nelson and they floated to the top as being a world-class destination that we could bring this global event to.”