Young Sunshine Girls still short of World Youth goals

JAMAICA’S UNDER-21 netballers are in full preparation mode as they look ahead of the World Youth Cup tournament, set to be held in Gibraltar from September 19–28.

With just over two months to go, the squad – under the guidance of head Coach Annett Daley and her assistant, Nardia Hanson – has ramped up its preparations.

However, Daley is appealing to the private sector for financial support, whether in cash or kind, to aid the team’s readiness for the tournament.

“Preparation for the young ladies has been going well, especially over the past few weeks, as we now have the full squad in training since they’re in camp. Earlier, we had issues because most of these ladies are students, and we were only able to train on weekends between October and May,” she shared.

Daley, who joined the group in January, spoke about the challenges they’ve faced during training.

“At the tournament, we’ll be playing indoors, but we’ve been training outdoors – at Stadium, Scotia, Mico, and the University of the West Indies. We would have loved to train at the National Indoor Sport Centre, which has a sprung wooden surface, but because of financial constraints, we’re unable to do so,” she explained.

Looking ahead to the tournament, Daley stated that while they would like to carry all 15 members in the squad, financial limitations may reduce the team to just 12.

“We would like all 15 members to attend, but lack of funds may prevent this. There’s also the possibility we won’t be able to take a video analyst and a masseuse with us, again because of financial constraints,” she added.

Daley expressed gratitude for recent contributions that have helped with transportation costs. The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport provided $4.6 million, and the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation contributed $500,000.”

She also spoke about the team’s progress since being swept 3-0 at home by South Africa in a friendly series in January.

“Since then, the players have shown great improvement. We participated in the recent Red Stripe Elite League, where we won two matches and lost two. Players were rotated during these games as we focused on testing different combinations, and they showed remarkable improvement,” said Daley, who also noted that three England-based players eligible to represent Jamaica are part of the training squad.

Daley believes her experience as a member of the coaching staff when the team won bronze in 2013 in Glasgow, Scotland, and who was, also part of the senior coaching team working alongside Connie Francis , will be valuable.

“With my wealth of experience and the support of my assistant, along with the progress the players have made, we expect very good results at the tournament,” she said.

Jamaica’s best performance at the World Youth Cup came in 2000 in Cardiff, Wales, when they finished as runners-up to Australia. The tournament, which began in 1988, has seen both New Zealand and Australia winning four titles each. New Zealand are the defending champions, having defeated Australia in the 2017 final in Gaborone, Botswana.