Southern Steel defender Phoenix Karaka has been elevated into the Silver Ferns team of 12 as the players prepare to embark on their first tour of 2014 to the United Kingdom later this week.
Karaka was initially named as one of four training partners to accompany the Silver Ferns on their UK tour and her promotion into the team comes at the expense of Silver Ferns captain Casey Kopua who continues to recover from scheduled ankle surgery last month.
Karaka was a key part of the New Zealand under-21 team which won the World Youth Netball Championship in Glasgow last year and is in the New Zealand accelerant squad.
Kopua will tour with the team as a training partner to enable the ankle to fully recover in what is going to be a busy netball season ahead.
Netball New Zealand's medical team are confident Kopua will make a full recovery and needs a few more weeks of rehabilitation before taking on the rigours of a full competitive match. In such a pinnacle year which includes the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the medical team are being cautious not to rush Kopua and are happy for her to travel and train with the team on the five-match tour.
