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."