Wales’ netball squad will complete their Commonwealth Games preparations with a series of games in Tasmania next March.
The squad will play matches in Launceston and Hobart with the Collingwood Magpies Suncorp Super Netball team and the Tassie Magpies Australian Netball league providing the opposition.
Wales will also face Northern Ireland – who have been drawn in a different pool – in Tasmania ahead of the Games on Australia’s Gold Coast
Wales begin their Pool B campaign against the mighty New Zealand on April 6th.
Welsh Netball’s Head of Performance Rosie Pretorius said: “This warm-up tour to Tasmania will be invaluable to our players.
“We’re grateful that Netball Tasmania are able to host us once again.
“The holding camp will give the squad an opportunity to acclimatise and put together the final pieces of the last four years of preparations.
“It will be exciting to return to Tasmania after receiving such a warm welcome from the hosts during our warm-up tour before the Netball World Cup in 2015.
“Northern Ireland, Collingwood and the Tassie Magpies will provide Wales with three competitive fixtures that will replicate the squads group stage games.
“This is the ideal way to make those final tweaks to match day preparations in time for the first group match against the New Zealand Silver Ferns.”
Netball Tasmania CEO Aaron Pidgeon said that the event was an important step for the continuing development of Netball in Tasmania:
He said: “If participation in Netball in our State is to continue to grow, and Tasmanian high-performance Netball teams are to have an impact on the National stage, then it’s really important for the Netball community in Tasmania to have exposure to elite Netball in a live environment.
“Seeing SSN and International athletes competing in a live environment is the ideal showcase for our sport, and will no doubt inspire lots of young women in Tasmania to be future Australian Diamonds players.
“We want to give them every opportunity possible to achieve that dream.”
Details of the event are still being finalised, with matches currently scheduled for Tuesday March 27th at the Silverdome in Launceston, and March 29th and 31st at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart.
Along with the Silver ferns, Wales have also been drawn in Pool B along with England, Scotland, Malawi and Uganda.
Wales schedule: Apr 6: v New Zealand; 7: v Scotland; 9: v England; 10: v Uganda; 11: v Malawi.
The preliminary round matches which will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre with the finals matches at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre on April 14-15.