Bay of Plenty's hockey trio of Gemma Flynn, Rose Keddell and Sam Charlton are all Glasgow-bound after being named in the Black Sticks squad to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Rose Keddell, Gemma Flynn and Sam Charlton. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

As largely expected the three players were all included in today's strong squad announcement captained by the experienced Kayla Whitelock, ahead of next month's games.

All 16 players in the squad were part of the recent FIH World Cup squad. The side also became the first to model the new Glasgow 2014 official team uniform.

Of the three, Flynn is the sole Bay player to have competed at a previous Commonwealth Games – 2010 in Delhi.

Black Sticks coach Mark Hager says the team is confident they have what it takes to bring home a medal from Glasgow after a fifth place finish at the FIH World Cup.

'All the teams will turn up well prepared to the Commonwealth Games and we won't be taking any game lightly, but if we can build on our performance from the World Cup and perform to our best we hope to be standing on the podium,” says Hager.

Senior players Whitelock, Emily Naylor, Krystal Forgesson, Flynn and Anita Punt have all played over 150 games pulling the team test cap average up to 108, but despite the teams international experience only seven players have competed at a Commonwealth Games before.

'One of the pleasing things is that even though there are a lot of new players in the team since London Olympics, we have higher expectations of ourselves than we did say four or five years ago and I think it highlights that the group has come a long way.”

New Zealand is ranked second in the competition below Australia, following their rise in rankings to fourth following the World Cup.

'There is an expectation based on our ranking that we will medal and we believe it is healthy to have that pressure – I think it will help us perform.”

Whitelock is honoured to be leading the team to Glasgow and proud to be wearing a uniform that clearly represents New Zealand and the unique character of the nation.

'I'm very proud to be part of the fantastic team named today, and to receive our official uniform is really special.

'We'll be clearly recognisable as Kiwis and the black kit really shows we intend to represent New Zealand with pride.”

The uniform is traditional black and incorporates elements representing New Zealand's special character and place in the world, including a stylized Southern Cross, tui and the letters NZ. It also sends a nod of respect to the host nation, Scotland, with reflections of the St Andrew's Cross also incorporated in the design.

The Kiwis will face Trinidad and Tobago, India, South Africa and Canada in pool play. The top two teams from each pool then progress to semi-finals ahead of the final game on August 3.

The players are currently based in their home cities and have ten days of training until they depart Auckland to play in a warm–up Four Nations Tournament in Dublin, July 12-16 July, before arriving at the Athletes Village in Glasgow on July 18.

The New Zealand Commonwealth Games team now will be complete following the namings of the men's hockey and rugby sevens teams in early July.