Netball Fiji will be hosting the Rising Stars Fiji 21&U tour, which is to take place at the Vodafone Arena, in Suva from August 19-23.

The event will be a preparation platform for the National 21&U Baby Pearls team to the Oceania World Youth Cup Qualifier in Cook Islands in September.

The current World Youth Cup champions New Zealand 21&U and runners up Australia will be part of the tournament, including the Singapore 21&U team.

The five-day tournament will also provide valuable competition experience for these National 21/U teams ahead of the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup. The four countries will take part in match play across the week to foster international connections and prepare players for elite competition.

Athletes will also take part in community engagement and cultural exchanges across the week.

The National 21&U Baby Pearls will be comprised of the two 21&U teams currently participating in Netball Fijis premier annual tournament the FinanceHub Super League competition. Netball Fiji chief executive officer Vivian Koster, emphasised that the tour would be crucial for the Baby Pearls squad as it would provide them high level competitive match plays.

“It’s an important preparation for our Baby Pearls as they will be playing the World Youth Cup champ and the runner up, it gives them that exposure as they prepare for the qualifier in September.”

The Australia 21&U head coach, Cathy Fellows, expressed her enthusiasm to work with the selected squad members, Fellows was also specialist defence coach for the Fiji Pearls to the Netball World Cup in Cape Town.

“I am very excited about the opportunity for this group of selected athletes to get exposure to international competition as part of 2025 Netball World Youth Cup preparations,” Fellows added.

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