Netball: Ferns get new little black dress at worlds

Silver Fern captain Casey Williams. Photo / Natalie Slade

The Silver Ferns will take the court at the world championships in Singapore next month in a new-look match dress.

The new little black dress will be unveiled at a farewell function for the team in Auckland tomorrow.

The dress will only be worn by the team at the world championships, which run from July 3-11, with the Ferns reverting to regular dress for their test matches against England and Australia at the end of the year.

Netball New Zealand chief executive Raelene Castle said they wanted to give the team a "special" playing strip for the game's biggest stage.

"In the netball world the world championships is the pinnacle event, so we thought we'd have a new dress to reflect that," said Castle.

It is expected the Ferns will keep to the all-black strip, but there will be special elements to the design.

The New Zealand side are putting the finishing touches to their preparation for the world tournament at a three-day camp in Auckland.

The Ferns, with some of the members of the wider training squad, are based at the Millennium Institute on the North Shore for an intense final shakedown before flying out on Monday.

Coach Ruth Aitken said the Ferns were focusing on ironing out the kinks that were spotted in the recent two-test series against Australia, which was shared one apiece.

Aitken said there would be a lot of intense match-play to replicate the finals series at the world championships, where they will play three games in as many days.

The team will then have a few days at home before reassembling in Auckland on Sunday night.