The Waikato Bay of Plenty Avis Magic are preparing for their sold-out home game.

The netball team are in third place for the ANZ Netball Premiership and with only six weeks left, they hope to find success in their upcoming game with the South Auckland Stars.

Team manager Justine Dixon says the game is officially a sold-out, “The crowd will be sitting at around 2500 on the day.”

The Magic v Stars game starts at 4pm at Mercury Baypark Arena on Saturday, June 29.

Justine advises that fans get to the game early to grab their seats because the sold-out game will bring big crowds. “We need our fans to arrive early. We need people to be arriving at the gates from 3pm because 2500 people will be trying to get in and get seated.”

Waikato Bay of Plenty Avis Magic. Photo supplied.

To avoid being late, Justine suggests getting in early, grabbing your seat and getting comfortable. And while you wait, a local Tauranga under-18s womens’ team will tale on the Tauranga under-18s mens’ team.

Justine says both of these teams will be heading to opens and will be representing Tauranga later in the year.

“A full arena will be very loud, which is fantastic because our team really thrives with that extra support from our fans,” says Justine.

“There’s nothing quite like having the roar of the crowd behind you when you’re in a tough battle. It’s really exciting, it’s also the first time we’ve sold out a venue in many, many years. It’s a pretty exciting time for us as an organisation.”

The ANZ Netball Premiership has been running since 2017. “This week is the 12th round of the premiership so getting to the business end of the competition. So, it’s a really important game for us. When we continue our winning run, that will lead us into the elimination finals. We’ve got four more weeks to go, including this weekend, so it’s a big game for us.”

Waikato Bay of Plenty Avis Magic. Photo supplied.

Justine says the team are feeling excited for the big game. “We played the Mystics, and they were in third position on Monday. We had quite a convincing win against them, so we leapfrogged them into third which was awesome.

“The team is feeling pretty strong and really excited, especially to be in front of that home sold-out crowd in Tauranga.”