The Fiji Pearls continue to ramp up their preparations as they draw closure to the 2025 PacificAus Netball Series in Brisbane.
Fiji Pearls interim coach Jioweli Vakamoce selected his 15-member team to the Series where 11 players are based in the country while four players selected from overseas.
The 11 players have been training together with the full member squad from September up till mid-January where Vakamoce trimmed down the squad to the final 15. Among the 15, Alisi Neisulu, Cilia Lewatu, Joana Vulaca and Susana Rasaubale-a current squad member of the 21U squad will make their debut as Fiji Pearls. Two other 21U Squad members Solei Toganivalu and Nina Nakula are also part of the team.
The inclusion of veterans Alisi Naqiri, Vakaoca Bolakoro and Kelera Nawai has allowed for interim Head Coach Jioweli Vakamoce to play a mixture of both youth and experience at the tournament. This also works well in the exposure of new faces into the High-Performance environment which is a long-term plan of Fiji Netball.
Coach Vakamoce has integrated their training program into the Fiji Men’s Saturday session where they played their first scrimmage session last weekend at the Vodafone Arena.
Vakamoce explained that engaging the Fiji Men’s into their training will give them much needed gametime exposure ahead of the PacificAus Series.
“We just want to test our players in a high intense game where we test their agility, where they pass, their running angle and all these components.”
Vakamoce added that they will be playing more scrimmage sessions against the Men’s team before they depart for the Series in February.
Vakamoce explained that the players’ fitness are improving day by day as S&N coach Emori Bakewa continues to work around the clock in making sure they reach a standard fitness level ahead of the Series.
“We have improved a lot with our fitness and I’m so thankful to be working with our s&c coach, right now we’re focusing on our structure, and combination on court, we want to make sure that these players gel in well together.”
The team will be co-captained by Ana Nauqe and Kalesi Tawake, while Elenoa Gukirewa will be vice-captain.
They depart for Brisbane on 14/02/2025.