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• England-born Rhea Dixon ready to shine bright for Sunshine Girls in Vitality Netball Horizon Series

  To say that Sunshine Girl Rhea Dixon stands ready to make a powerful mark in the highly anticipated four-match Vitality Netball Horizon Series against England, would be a great understatement.

  In fact, the England-born goal attack, whose Jamaican roots trace back to her grandparents from St. Elizabeth, is not only brimming with confidence and excitement, but more importantly, feels a renewed sense of purpose heading into the series which she believes represents an incredible opportunity to make Jamaica proud.

  Dixon, who had an impactful debut for the Sunshine Girls at last year’s Fast5 Netball World Series, is ready to once again showcase her talent alongside her Sunshine Girls teammates.

  England will host the first two games scheduled for November 16 and 17 at the AO Arena in Manchester, with Jamaica set to host the last two encounters on November 25 and 26 at the National Indoor Sports Centre.

  

  “I’m very excited to be back with the Sunshine Girls this year. I’m so grateful that this opportunity has come around, and I’m ready to take it with both hands,” Dixon told SportsMax.Tv from the team’s base in Manchester, her enthusiasm unmistakable.

  This series, Dixon believes, is a chance to contribute to her team’s success while showcasing the growth and resilience that have defined her journey.

  While she admits that her netball journey has had its share of ups and downs, the 27-year-old considers singing the Jamaican national anthem with her teammates one of her proudest moments.

  “There have been plenty of highs and lows,” she reflected.

  “Winning the last two Netball Superleague championships (with Loughborough Lightning) and being named MVP in the final was a huge accomplishment, but nothing compares to representing Jamaica and sharing that connection with my team,” Dixon declared.

  

  But Dixon also knows well the sacrifices and challenges that come with professional sport, as she has endured setbacks, including a foot injury that saw her miss almost an entire season and also being overlooked by teams early in her career.

  Yet, Dixon, who represented England at the Under-21 level before switching allegiance to Jamaica, turned those hardships into fuel for her ambitions.

  “Injury and non-selection can feel like huge blows, but they make you stronger. These moments taught me resilience and have shaped who I am as an athlete. I’ve learned to keep pushing and to trust that hard work and dedication always yield results,” she reasoned.

  Though new to the longstanding rivalry between the two nations, Dixon is all-in, having been working hard individually over the summer to ensure she’s at peak performance to assist her number four-ranked Sunshine Girls teammates topple the now number two-ranked England and make a move up the rankings.

  “I’ve been working on my fitness and mental game throughout the break, so I feel strong both physically and mentally. As a team, we’ve been doing video analysis on England’s recent games to make sure we’re as prepared as possible,” Dixon shared.

  

  “These girls are never less motivated to win. They all want to win and will do whatever it takes to get there. So I really believe that we will come out on top; we have so much knowledge, skill and experience in this group, and they are all winners that will fight until the end,” she noted. 

  Beyond her ambitions to excel with the Sunshine Girls, Dixon is also focused on her continued development as an athlete.

  "I want to keep building my experience with this team, performing consistently on the international stage and bringing what I learn back to my play in England, and hopefully gaining some more silverware in the NSL,” Dixon who recently signed with Nottingham Forest Netball ended.

• Sports Ministry giving J$45M in grants to Olympians, Paralympian

  As a token of appreciation for their efforts, members of Jamaica’s team to the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, France will be compensated through grants from the Government of Jamaica, the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, said at a press conference on Monday.

  “I have J$45M allocated to provide Appreciation Grants to members of Jamaica’s delegation to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games,” she said.

  Grange said the money was being disbursed directly to 66 athletes, including one Paralympian, and 21 athlete support personnel who formed Jamaica’s delegation to the games.

  These grants are in addition to over twenty million dollars disbursed to athletes under the Athletes Assistance Programme as they prepared for the Paris Games, according to Grange.

  Junior athletes who competed at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru will also receive gift vouchers totaling J$760,000 from the Ministry.

  The Minister was speaking at the press conference to announce the Jamaica leg of the new global athletics league, Grand Slam Track, being led by the former World and Olympic champion and record holder, Michael Johnson.

• Defending champion Andrew Arft aims to repeat victory at Jamaica Open

  Defending champion Andrew Arft is ready to tee off in pursuit of a consecutive Jamaica Open title as he begins his campaign on Sunday at the Tryall Golf Club. If successful, Arft would become the first player since Russ Cochran in 2011 and 2012 to claim back-to-back victories at the prestigious event.

  After playing in the Pro-Am tournament on Saturday, Arft shared his comfort with the Tryall course, noting that the layout feels familiar. “I feel really well. I was out on the course today, just remembering the course and seeing it,” he said. “It kind of feels comfortable on the tee shots, and I had a great Pro-Am group from Palladium. They kept it light and fun, which was great.”

  Despite a few changes in course conditions compared to last year, Arft expects the challenge to remain formidable. “It’s going to be windy. The course is wet compared to last year, which was firmer,” he observed. “It’s a give and take thing. The course might play a bit easier since the balls won’t bounce everywhere, but we won’t get as much roll on the fairways, so there’ll be longer shots in. Less balls will bounce into tricky spots, but it will still play just as hard as last year, just in a different way.”

  Arft also highlighted that it’s the welcoming atmosphere of Jamaica that motivated him to return. “It’s more of the people than anything. The golf course is top notch and I love it, but right when I step foot in the airport – different type of niceness around here,” Arft remarked. “Everyone is really cordial and laidback, and I definitely feed off the people’s energy. When I have good people around me, I feel good as well.”

  As Arft prepares to defend his title, he’ll be leaning on his familiarity with Tryall’s unique challenges and the supportive environment that Jamaica offers, aiming to add his name to the short list of champions who have won the Jamaica Open in consecutive years.