Connie Francis, the head coach of Jamaica’s senior netball team was effusive in praise of the young, inexperienced team that soundly defeated a game St Vincent and the Grenadines team 74-35 in an exhibition match at the Americas Netball Qualifier at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday night.
Led by Jhanielle Fowler, the best shooter in the world, the Sunshine Girls was comprised of Goal Attack Amanda Pinkney, Wing Attack Quannia Walker, Centre Abigale Sutherland, Wing Defense Tafiya Hunter, Goal Defense Kimone Shaw, and Goal Keep Theresa Beckford.
Passing at speed before feeding Fowler and Pinkney in the circle, Jamaica quickly established a lead in the opening quarter 18-8 with Fowler scoring 11 goals. Pinkney added six goals before being subbed off for Gezelle Allison who played the rest of the half.
Francis explained afterwards that taking Pinkney out early in the game was at the request of the player who was feeling the frantic pace.
“She indicated to us that she was winded and it was only fair for us to pull her because we have eager players willing to go out there and play,” the coach said.
“I thought that she was really having a fantastic game but you could see that the intensity from attack to defense was not there so we pulled her and re-inserted her and she came in and she did a really fantastic job.”
Allison’s entry into the game caused a temporary disruption to the flow which resulted in several unforced turnovers. However, she quickly settled in to support Fowler who was not at her sharpest missing five shots by the half-time break as Jamaica widened their lead 42-15.
Pinkney returned as a replacement for Fowler to start the third quarter and demonstrated her natural shooting skills scoring 25 from 30 for the game as Jamaica took a 61-24 lead into the final quarter.
Jamaica outscored their opponents 13-11 in the final stanza to secure an easy win before a vociferously vocal crowd.
Francis said the close margin between the teams in the final quarter was caused by a couple of factors.
“I think it’s just how we take care of the ball. We had lots of ball in our possession and we gave up some. It’s about sticking to the tactical play because at times St Vincent had this front play and it was really giving us some form of headache,” she said, “but we keep reinforcing that we have to recognize and do allow the coaching staff to say people are making a run because of this particular play, but overall I think that this young bunch, six debutantes in a game like this, this is the type of exposure that we need to give our young players to grow in order to make the final cut for Cape Town.”
The Netball World Cup will be played in South Africa next summer.
During the game, St Vincent and Grenadines head coach Godfrey Harry frequently switched out their attacking players, which created some problems for the inexperienced Jamaican team. Chief among the disrupters was Joseann Antoine whose movements off the ball challenged Jamaica’s defenders, who struggled to keep up with her.
She was the best of the scorers for her team netting 17 goals from 20 attempts and got good support from Shellise Davis, who scored three goals from five attempts.
Francis conceded that the frequent substitutions did create problems.
“I thought that their players actually were making an impact. I thought that was really a good tactical play because the first change that he made it really inspired their team and they were having a run at us so it’s for us to recognize when teams come up with tactical plays and making changes that we just stick to the game plan and keep pushing forward in order to put more points on the board,” she said, while praising her girls for facing up to the challenge.
“It’s a young team. We just have to big them up for all the effort because I thought that we were contested. The Vincent and the Grenadines team is not an easy team. Not because the scoreboard didn’t reflect that; I thought that it was not a true reflection of what was happening on court but all in all I love this bunch of young players who came in and gave 110 percent.”
In other games on Sunday night, Trinidad and Tobago defeated St Lucia 63-25, while Grenada came from behind to beat the Cayman Islands 50-40. Meanwhile, the USA defeated Antigua and Barbuda 34-22.
Barbados and St. Vincent & the Grenadines scored dominant victories to kick-off the Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday.
Barbados opened the competition with a commanding 67-27 victory over the Cayman Islands.
It was a relatively close affair after the first quarter as the Barbadians, currently ranked 13th in the world, led 13-4.
However, the Gems ramped up the intensity in second quarter stretching the lead to 21 to end the half ahead 34-13. They widened the lead 48-21 heading into the final quarter when they capped a fine display with 19 goals in the period to wind up 67-27 winners.
Goal shooter Faye Agard led the way for Barbados with 51 goals from 59 attempts while goal attack Brianna Holder had 16 goals from 21 attempts.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines were equally dominant in their 51-24 win over the USA.
St. Vincent got out to an early lead as the Americans struggled to put points on the board. The end of the first quarter saw the Vincentians up 15-3 and by halftime, the score was 30-9. The third quarter was no different as the USA found themselves getting their first basket at the four-minute mark, ending the quarter down 15-37 before ultimately suffering a 24-51 defeat.
Goal shooter Mary Ann Frederick led the way for S. Vincent & the Grenadines with 22 goals from 26 attempts while goal attack Kimesha Antoine also attempted 26 shots, converting 21 of them.
Coach of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Godfrey Harry, said his team got what they expected.
“It was predictable. We were expecting to win this game and we did. One of the things that we wanted to make sure of was that we experiment and use the depth of our team. All the players stepped up to the plate, which was great for us,” he said.
Despite the loss, USA assistant coach Keithan Grayson-Superville said she expects improvement after what was her team’s first international action in years.
“They didn’t do as much as I would’ve liked to see today but it’s our first game and we haven’t played internationally for over four years. We’re going to take it game by game and, as we go, we’re going to try to improve. We’re a work in progress.”
Forty-four netball coaches participated two-day Americas Netball coaching seminar at UWI Mona Campus on Thursday and Friday (October 13 and 14) and were instructed by of three of sport’s most experienced coaches.
Former Australia and Jamaica head coach Jill McIntosh, Sue Hawkins, the national coach of New Zealand and Rob Wright of Australia tutored coaches from across the region that included 30 from Jamaica and 14 others from across the Americas.
"We have coaches who will be participating in the qualifier and other coaches as well as about 30 coaches from Jamaica. We are trying to upskill them in all the different skills of netball and finding different ways to keep their minds open,” McIntosh explained.
“We are covering shooting, the mid-court and centre-passes and some specific centre pass attacks, some specific centre-pass defence, feeding - how they feed. We are covering defending, all the principles on defending.”
McIntosh also revealed that the experience was encouraging.
"The coaches have been great. They have been interactive. They have gone out and participated. The questioning has been good and we have got lots of talk and chatter and it’s around about what they see and how they can change it and how they can progress it so the chatter is good," she said.
"My observation of the region is that they have wonderful athletes so we need to up-skill the coaches to show them many ways of doing the same thing and from a purely Jamaica perspective, I have seen the girls grow and what I saw at the Commonwealth games, I was so heartened and pleased, they did such an amazing job."
Dr. Bridget Adams of Trinidad & Tobago was elected unopposed as the new president of the Americas Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) during the federation's Annual General Meeting at the Liguanea Club in Kingston on Saturday and has promised to hit the ground running.
Several of the teams down to participate in the Americas Netball World Cup Qualifier which begins on Sunday at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, have already arrived ready to do battle for spots in the Netball World Cup.
By virtue of their outstanding play during the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls have moved up a place in World Netball’s global rankings.
The Sunshine Girls who defeated world number-one Australia and number-two New Zealand before losing to Australia in the final, have climbed a spot to number three in the world rankings released on Monday.
Meanwhile, Barbados’ Gems failed to win a single match at the Commonwealth Games and have dropped two places to 14th in the rankings. Trinidad and Tobago, meanwhile, fell one place to 11th.
According to World Netball, “Since the last WN World Rankings update published, on March 1, 2022, many international test series and events have taken place including the PacificAUS Series, Europe Netball Open Challenge, COSANA Tri-Nations Series, Wales International Test Series, Netball World Cup 2023 Qualifiers – Oceania, and most recently, the 38 matches at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“Within the top six teams Jamaica has moved up to third in the world, whilst England has dropped to fourth, this comes after Jamaica made history at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games making their first final and winning a silver medal.”
World Netball said the new rankings mean that world number-one Australia, New Zealand (2), Jamaica (3) and England (4) will now be invited to compete at the NWC2023. Uganda (6) will also be invited; they have also qualified through their world ranking, due to South Africa (5) pre-qualifying as hosts.
The Netball World Cup 2023 Qualifier – Oceania has already taken place with Tonga and Fiji qualifying to be invited by World Netball to compete at the event.
Tonga finished unbeaten at both the PacificAUS Series in March 2022 and the Netball World Cup Qualifier Oceania in July 2022.
World Netball requires teams to have played six or more matches in the ranking period to be eligible for a World Ranking. Tonga has reached this threshold again and they now regain a world ranking, entering 9th place in the world. This is a remarkable achievement as their highest previous ranking was 19th.
Malta (35) Israel (39) and Switzerland (45) have also regained a ranking after playing the required number of matches by competing at the Europe Netball Open Challenge in May.
The success of Tonga has led to Scotland moving down one place to 10, and Trinidad & Tobago and Northern Ireland also moving down one place to 11 and 12.
There have also been many changes lower down the table with Barbados, Cook Islands and Samoa all moving down two places, whilst the Republic of Ireland have moved up four places to 24th after winning the Europe Netball Open Challenge.
Sunshine Girl Romelda Aiken George is now a mom after giving birth to a daughter Gianna earlier this week. Gianna is the first child of the naturalized Australian and her husband Dan, who has three other children from a previous relationship.
She shared the news on social media early on Friday.
“Welcome to this crazy world our beautiful baby Gianna George. We’re so in love with you,” she posted on Instagram.
The post drew reactions from a number of former players including now retired Jamaican player Vangelee Williams, who posted “She’s adorable Diddy. Congratulations to you both.”
Australian player Nat Medhurst, herself a mother said, “A massive congratulations Diddy and Dan. Welcome to the world, Gianna. Lots of love to you all.”
England player Helen Housby was also among those who offered congratulatory messages to the new mom. “Congratulations guys. She’s gorgeous!”
Romelda and Dan, a former basketball player turned businessman, were married in September 2021 at the conclusion of the Suncorp Super Netball Season and have now started to build a family.
Aiken has been playing professional netball in Australia since 2008 when she was signed by the Queensland Firebirds and has won three titles with them. She became an Australian citizen in January 2020.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls, silver medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England have attracted a lucrative three-year contract from Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum, the company announced on Sunday.
Sunshine Girl and Commonwealth Games silver medalist Shadian Hemmings has announced her retirement from international netball, Netball Jamaica announced in an Instagram post on Monday.
“Thank you Shadian. We wish you all the best in your next chapter,” the post said.
“Not sure I’ll be able to find words. Going off with a bang! A silver medal is a great accomplishment. Proud of my team. I guess it’s time to go back to watching you on my T.V. I would say until next time but I guess it’s goodbye,” Hemmings wrote on her own page.
The Sunshine Girls won silver at the Commonwealth games in Birmingham, England after a narrow 51-55 defeat to Australia on Sunday.
Facing the number-one team in the world twice in the same tournament proved a hill too steep to climb for Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls on Sunday after losing 55-51 to the now four-time Commonwealth Games champions Australia in the gold medal match at the NEC Arena.
Despite heroic efforts from Captain Jhanielle Fowler who scored 46 goals from 47 attempts and a perfect five from Shanice Beckford, Jamaica found the Diamonds too hard to break the second time around.
Jamaica defeated Australia 57-55 to win Pool A in the preliminary rounds and followed up with an emphatic 67-51 victory over New Zealand, the second-best team in the world that claimed the bronze medal Sunday morning after defeating England 55-48.
In the gold-medal encounter, the Australians edged Jamaica 14-12 in a keenly contested first quarter but the Jamaicans showed grit rebounding to win the second quarter 17-15 to see both teams remain deadlocked at the half-time break.
Australia broke the game open in the third quarter outscoring the Jamaicans 16-10 to take a six-point lead into the final stanza. Australia extended the lead to seven goals late in the quarter but Jamaica was not prepared to yield and fought valiantly outscoring the champions 12-10 but it was simply not enough.
Jamaica missed only one shot from 52 attempts during the final.
Gretel Bueta led the scoring for the Commonwealth champions, shooting a perfect 37 goals from 37 attempts. Cara Koenen was also perfect scoring 15 goals from 15 attempts.
The Sunshine Girls will leave Birmingham with a silver medal their highest ever placing at the Commonwealth Games.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls registered a historic 67 – 51 win over New Zealand to advance to the netball final of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England on Saturday.
The result followed up another big win for the team, after getting by world number one-ranked team Australia in Pool A. The Jamaicans are now scheduled for a rematch with the Australians in the final. The Australians defeated England 60-51 in the day’s other semi-final.
Against New Zealand, Jamaica captain Jhaniele Fowler had a perfect 54 goals from 54 attempts to lead her team. The Jamaicans got off to a strong against the world number two ranked team and ended the first quarter with an 18-9 lead. It was an advantage they never really surrendered, despite a strong fourth-quarter rally from the Kiwis. New Zealand were led by Grace Nweke who netted 24 goals from 24 attempts.
New Zealand will face off with England in the bronze medal match, which will also take place on Sunday. The appearance will be the first in the Commonwealth Games final for the Sunshine Girls, having previously won three bronze medals.
Jamaica Sunshine Girls head coach Connie Francis has credited the team’s commitment to patience as a crucial component in a historic win over Australia at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Thursday.
The Jamaicans registered a 57-55 win in the Pool A encounter, a result that marked the first time the Sunshine Girls were registering a win over the number one ranked team at the Commonwealth Games.
The Sunshine Girls staged a furious fourth-quarter rally after trailing Australia 46-40 at the end of the third. According to Francis, a key part of that success had to do with taking better care of the ball.
“We went back to the basics, pushed it around, looked for short and long passes, something that we are not accustomed to but we have implemented for this tournament,” Francis said.
“We decided we were going to be very patient and not make silly passes, only one silly turnover was on the side and I thought we should not have gone there because we had other players that could have taken the ball,” she added.
“At that stage in the later part of the game when we surged forward, they were determined to keep the lead because that is what we have been practicing and that is what they wanted. They wanted this victory more than anything else.”
The team’s highest finish at the Commonwealth Games is third, which they have achieved on three separate occasions.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls rallied from a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun three-time gold-medallists Australia to top Pool A at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Thursday.
In the intense battle between the unbeaten top two teams in the pool, Jamaica led by Jhanielle Fowler’s 47 goals from 50 attempts and Shanice Beckford’s perfect 10 from 10, outscored the Diamonds 17-9 to pull off their first victory over the three-time champions at the Commonwealth Games.
Australia enjoyed a slim one-goal lead at the end of the first quarter 14-13 but as Jamaica gained confidence they matched the Australian’s 16-16 to remain one goal down at the half-time break.
The experienced Australians surged to a five-goal lead in the third quarter, winning the stanza 16-11 before the Jamaicans, the only team to score 100 goals in a match at this year’s Games, turned the game on its head with a 17-9 score-line to get a famous victory. Jamaica levelled the score with eight minutes to go before taking the lead for good with four minutes left to play.
Australia’s Gretel Bueta led the Diamonds’ scoring with 36 goals from 39 attempts while Steph Wood scored 19 goals from 22 tries in the losing cause.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls crushed their Caribbean rivals Barbados Gems 103-24 to go 3-0 in their 2022 Commonwealth Games campaign on Monday.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls recorded a second straight win at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, following a 68-49 win over South Africa on Saturday.
In the Pool A encounter Jamaica captain Jhanielle Fowler led the way for the Caribbean team with a game-high 33 from 33 attempts, as they jumped out to a sizeable 18-7 first-quarter lead and never looked back. The Jamaicans began the competition with a 72-34 win over Wales.
Men’s Rugby
Elsewhere, a tough start to the tournament continued for the Jamaica Men’s Rugby Sevens team who remained winless. The team followed up losses to Australia and Kenya with a 40-0 defeat to Uganda and 45-7 loss to England in the Men’s 9-16 Quarter-Final.
Swimming
In the pool, Jamaica’s Kito Campbell qualified to the semi-finals of the Men's 100m Breaststroke after finishing second in the event behind Papua New Guinea’s Ryan Maskelyne. In the Women's 50m Freestyle Mackenzie Headley advanced to the next round after finishing 6th in Heat 8 but failed to advance from semi-final 2.
Cycling
In cycling, Dahlia Palmer failed to advance from the first round of the Women's Sprint – Qualifying after finishing 21st, while Daniel Palmer and Malik Reid failed to advance from the Men's Keirin.
Badminton/Squash
In the Badminton Mixed team event, Jamaica secured a 4-1 over Zambia while in Squash, Chris Binnie received a w/o to the next round after India’s Ramit Tandon forfeited the match.
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