Tags: Netball, Roxanna Mclean, Under21 Sunshine Girls, Netball/Annett Daley
Head coach Annett Daley is embracing the opportunity to reinvigorate Jamaica’s Under-21 netball team as they prepare to face their South African counterparts in the three-match Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series.
The series, set to begin this Saturday at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, will be the young Sunshine Girls first competitive outing since the Americas qualifiers in Guadeloupe and, as such, serves as vital preparation ahead of the Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar later this year.
“This series is a welcome one for the Under-21 team. The girls have not been playing in any form of competition since they went to Guadeloupe for the qualifiers,” Daley said.
“There were some members from the Guadeloupe team that have stopped playing. So right now, it’s about just putting the teams together based on those who were there before and the new members coming into the squad. It is also about exposing the girls to the different styles of play,” she added.
Daley is particularly eager to use the matches as a benchmark to gauge the team’s readiness for the World Youth Cup.
“For this particular Under-21, I call them the COVID babies or the COVID team, because they ended up in a time frame where even for Under-16 they didn’t get any Under-16 competition because it was during COVID. Their high school and college experiences were interrupted because of COVID,” Daley explained.
“The level of competition that we would want them to have experienced prior, they do not have. But the amazing thing is that our local coaches have done a wonderful job with these young ladies, especially in the high schools, and as a result, we have an abundance of talent,” she noted.
The team, to be led by Roxonna McLean, includes a mix of players who competed in Guadeloupe and new additions to the squad as Daley believes this experience will help them to understand the game better and prepare effectively for the world stage.
“My task right now is just to work with the other coaches to ensure that these girls are understanding the game, and this particular series will give us a benchmark from which to work so that we are ready for the World Championship,” Daley shared.
The three-match series will feature double-headers, with the Under-21 teams playing first at 3:00pm, followed by senior teams on January 18, 22, and 25.
Squad: Roxonna McClean, Tiana Reid, Crystal Nicholson, Fentonian Henry, Evelyn Smith, Jessica Champlain, Shaqwan, Hamilton, Deandra Edwards, De-Eziah Martin, Mikeala Walker, Kelliann Hunter, Leneice Williams, Nickiesha Powell, Kaydeen Gordon, Jada Ricketts
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