The Silver Ferns midcourter grew up north of Gisborne, in Tikitiki, but moved to Hawke’s Bay with her family ahead of her high school years, which she completed at Napier Girls’ High School.
“It will be pretty special [on Wednesday night] because the courts that we’ll be playing on are where I played for Napier Girls’, and a bit of club as well.
“Just being back here feels like I’m coming home and it will be cool to see everyone in the crowd as well.”
Her parents – who have since moved back up the East Coast – will be at the match, along with other family and friends.
“I had to order a few extra tickets and also family members got in before the tickets sold out as well, so I’m looking forward to seeing so many familiar faces in the crowd,” Poi said.
Kimiora Poi in action in her teenage years in Hastings in 2014. Photo / Paul Taylor
About 2500 spectators are expected for the game, which sold out in a matter of hours.
“Our goal is to [win] the three games and hold ourselves to those high standards and keep putting performances out there that we are proud of,” Poi said.
Interim Silver Ferns coach Yvette McCausland-Durie has replaced Dame Noeline Taurua for the current series, after the latter (and her assistant coaches) were surprisingly stood down.
That decision reportedly related to Taurua’s leadership style and stemmed from issues which arose during a training camp in Sydney earlier this year. Taurua has since received public backing from the likes of Silver Ferns great Laura Langman.
Poi, who is based in Christchurch and co-captains the Southern Steel, said the lead-up to the current series had been “a bit of a disruptive preparation”.
“But once we got into doing mode and we were clear that we had new coaches coming in, we were able to put that to the side a little bit and focus on our job.”
She said it was amazing to wear the black dress again, which was “always a privilege any time we get that opportunity”.
“And we were stoked we could put out a performance we could be proud of [on Sunday].”
South Africa have only beaten the Silver Ferns once in their history, a famous win at the 1995 Netball World Championships.
Netball legend Irene van Dyk starred for South Africa in that match and is now based in Hawke’s Bay.
The final game of the current series will be held in Invercargill this coming Sunday, before the Silver Ferns take on old foes Australia in the four-game Constellation Cup series in October.