Netball: Fans help Malia's family get to Cup

Silver Fern Malia Paseka says she's overwhelmed by the generosity of fans. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Silver Ferns newcomer Malia Paseka didn't think her family would get the chance to see her compete at her first World Cup.

The 20-year-old shooter was a surprise inclusion in the New Zealand line-up for the Sydney tournament, which gets under way on Friday. Her selection meant a return to her hometown, having moved to Sydney with her family as a youngster. She was lured back across the Tasman a few years ago, but her father and five siblings remained.

They haven't yet had the opportunity to see Paseka, who debuted for the Ferns against Fiji in last month's Taini Jamison series, play in the black dress. She had hoped her single father, Leone, would be able to make it along to some of the World Cup matches, if his work rosters at a factory allowed.

However, with high ticket prices and a large family to support, it was looking as if Leone would miss seeing his daughter on world netball's biggest stage. But after reading the story of Paseka's journey to the Silver Ferns in a newspaper last month, fans were inspired to get her family to the World Cup.

Sydney local Megan Maurice set up a page on a fundraising website gofundme allowing members of the netball community to help buy tickets for Paseka's family.

"In the article Malia mentioned her Dad may not be able to get along to any games as the tickets were quite expensive," said Ms Maurice.

"I got in touch with Netball NZ and I was quite surprised teams weren't given an allocation of tickets. So I said, 'Well I know a few people who would love to help out, would it be appropriate if I collect donations?'"

The page quickly met the target of A$650 ($730), allowing Ms Maurice to buy eight tickets to the Silver Ferns' round robin clash against Australia on Sunday for the family. Paseka said she was overwhelmed.

"I didn't expect anybody would go that far to help out my family. It's so nice to have people out there that do care," she said.

"There was also a lady who contacted [Paseka's franchise team] the Magic to say she had a ticket to the final that she couldn't use and she would happily give it to my Dad, which was just amazing. It will be so cool to have him there."

It is not the first time a newspaper article has had a positive spin-off for Paseka. The young shooter came to the attention of Netball NZ four years ago when she was profiled in a Sydney community paper after her selection in the NSW under-17 side. In the article, Auckland-born Paseka said it was her dream to one day play for the Silver Ferns.

She was invited to attend Netball NZ's emerging talent camp, and the scouts liked what they saw and moved quickly to entice Paseka back across the Tasman. With the support of Netball NZ and living with extended family, Paseka finished off her schooling in Auckland.