The newly engaged netballer is flying high on and off the court.

Silver Ferns captain Casey Williams would never have guessed the most special occasion of her life would involve a plane, her parents, and a delicately balanced schedule.

The netballer admits she's still giddy with happiness after Wess, her boyfriend of five years, proposed at Hamilton Lake only hours before she left to play in the UK World Netball series.

'I got all nervous when he told me how much he loved me and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. I was crying my eyes out,' says Casey, speaking exclusively to New Idea from the Silver Ferns training camp in Manchester, UK.

‘Then he asked, "Will you marry me?" I said, "Yes, yes, yes, just get up off the grass!'

Casey says the moment was perfect - however, it was only Wess' quick thinking that kept his proposal plans on track. Mother Nature had blown his initial grand romantic gesture off course. The 24-year-old builder had designed a sky-high proposal for Casey, hiring a plane to pull a banner reading, ‘Casey, will you marry me?'

‘I'd been planning the day for two months,' Wess says. ‘My mum gave me a phone call the week of our anniversary to see if I had anything planned. I said, "Mum, I've got it under control."

‘The next day at work, I couldn't concentrate because I was so excited,' he adds.

Wess phoned Casey's parents Joanne and Murray, and his mum and dad Birgitta and Wilgert, to tell them to watch the sky at 6pm. Twice the plane tried to take off, but strong winds snapped the cord holding the banner.

‘We were set to head out for dinner, but every 15 minutes Wess would go up the hallway, to the toilet, or outside. At seven o'clock I said, "I'm hungry, where's this taxi?"' Casey says.

‘He was so nervous, wondering if the plane was coming. Our parents were at the end of our road in a bus stop, waiting to see the banner, and then we were all going to go out to celebrate.'

But with the weather foiling his plan, Wess opted to head to the lake instead, where he told a stunned Casey of his ambitious idea. When they arrived home, Casey rang her close-knit family to share the exciting news.

‘Mum and Dad are stoked. You can tell by the look in their eyes. Their smiles are from ear to ear. It's the same with Wess' parents. My family and friends were on his back to propose but Wess always said, "Casey, our time will come, it'll happen when we're ready."'

 

Long-distance love

Only 24 hours after the proposal, Casey had to wave goodbye to her fiance and fly to the UK to compete in the netball series. She won't see him until late October.

‘We're used to being apart now,' the hard-working netballer says. ‘We talk on the phone, send each other emails and texts. To be honest, and it might sound mean, I try not to think about him too much as I get homesick.'

And for her teammates, it's finally answered the question of when Wess would propose.

‘The girls had a bet that I'd be the next person to be asked. They were very excited and there were tears all round,' Casey says.

The tough-talking 24-year-old Ferns captain is a romantic at heart and has always dreamt of her white wedding. She says she's already decided on a princess-cut diamond engagement ring, set in white gold.

‘I've been a bridesmaid once, and I've seen other weddings and wondered if I'm going to get the chance to do it. I always paid attention to that sort of thing so when it was my turn, I'd know what I want,' she reveals.

Even though Casey's wedding wish has come true, her excitement hasn't changed her key focus - netball. For the next few weeks, the skipper's mind is 100 per cent focussed on the game - a passion Wess, a dedicated club hockey player, supports unequivocally.

‘You can't be half-hearted as a Silver Fern. That's why I say this is a special relationship. He's still there when I get home and he cares so much for me,' explains Casey, who has taken a semester off from studying for her Bachelor of Sports Science degree to concentrate on her sport.

The fierce defender plans to be wearing the goal-keep bib at next year's Commonwealth Games in India and the 2011 Netball World Championships in Singapore. As a result, she and Wess won't wed for at least another two years.

‘I want to be fully committed and dedicated to the team,' she says, ‘but I know there's going to be a time for me to support Wess when I finish playing netball. It's give and take.'

Casey credits this balanced approach for maintaining their rock-solid relationship, although the down-to-earth sports star admits that there was a time when she questioned whether or not the relationship was meant to be.

‘I first knew I liked Wess in June [2004], but I didn't tell him until October. I was too scared of being rejected,' Casey says.

She plucked up the courage to tell Wess her feelings at a Hamilton nightclub. Casey had fallen head over heels for her handsome builder, but kept up her guard. Her trip to the Worth Youth Championships in the US was their first test of being separated for weeks.

‘When I got back, Wess was there for me. That's when I knew he was right,' she says.

Now thoroughly buzzing and comfortable in her post-engagement bliss, Casey's biggest concern when she returns home will be the state of their house.

‘He knows that when I come home, the bed has to be made,' she says. ‘I don't care if the lounge is messy, that's fine. As long as the bed's made, I'm happy.'

By Caroline Botting

 

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