Diamonds Pick Youthful Squad for Fast5 Championships

Netball Australia has announced a youthful 10-player Australian Fast5 Diamonds team to contest the inaugural Fast5 Netball World Series to be held at Auckland’s Vector Arena from November 9-11 2012.

Australian Fast5 Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander has said this tournament will provide the opportunity to blood young players with one eye on the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 World Netball Championships in Sydney.

“It’s all about preparing these young players for international netball, even though it’s a different game with quite different rules, the Fast5 Netball World Series still have the same skills in terms of catching, passing, driving and defending under international pressure,” Alexander said.

“You can’t buy this opportunity to play against international competition so for these players it will be amazing for them to experience international netball.”

WAIS will be represented by West Coast Fever athletes Shae Bolton and Ashleigh Brazill during the fast pace series.

The team features four current Australian Diamonds with Ashleigh Brazill, Caitlin Thwaites and Chanel Gomes recently called into the national team for next month’s Holden Netball Quad-Series while Karyn Howarth was named in the Diamonds squad for the first time this year.

The three-day tournament features modified competition rules which includes just five players on court as the traditional wing attack and wing defence make way while new scoring zones have been added with one goal, two goal and three goal scoring areas.

While some of the more traditional netball rules remain, the games will feature four six-minute quarters, unlimited rolling substitutions and a Powerplay quarter in which goals for that quarter are doubled.

Australia will begin its Fast5 World Netball Series campaign against England, Malawi and New Zealand on Friday 9 November followed by South Africa and Jamaica on Saturday before finals on Sunday.

– Netball Australia