Shiaeine Blake, Jamaica's 155lbs Rough Fight League (RFL) Amateur MMA Lightweight Champion, will be fighting for a kickboxing title at the International Combat Sports Championships set for the LB Scott Auditorium in Phillipsburg, St Maarten, on Saturday, December 3.

Blake will be part of an eight-member team that Jamaica sends to the championships considered to be one of the major combat sports tournaments for countries in the Caribbean and Central America.

The team also includes professional fighters mixed martial artist Kasrie Cassells, who will take on hometown boy Akeem Lewis at 185lbs in the feature bout and Nakia Anderson will battle for a title at 145lbs.

Also in the team sponsored by shipping company Aeolus Shipping, Caribbean Dreams and illmatic Services are amateur MMA fighters, Nicholai Reid and Demar Haslam. Blake fights in the amateur kickboxing category along with Roberto Williams, Chris Daley, and Shanice Blake, his sister.

Radcliffe Cunningham, Blake’s trainer explained that while his fighter does not have a record in kickboxing, his accomplishments in MMA qualify him to fight for a title this coming weekend. Notwithstanding his relative inexperience as a kickboxer, Blake, meanwhile, has expressed supreme confidence at coming home with the 155lb title.

“A beautiful victory shall be had,” he told Sportsmax.TV. “My base is in stand up. The groundwork is the most recent addition.

“I have been training in this for a while so I want to go and execute properly and have a beautiful performance. I want something that people will remember because oftentimes you watch fights and it’s just punches and kicks, I want my performance to evoke emotion. I want to display that artistic side of it.”

Having successfully defended his MMA title five times, including his recent victory over Trinidadian Joshua Jones in Trinidad in October, Blake has good reason to be confident. Having been in training all year, he has maintained his competition readiness. But for this coming tournament, he ramped up his preparation.

“I have been training six days a week for the past six to eight weeks but the training has not stopped all year because I have been in competition all year. Training for this, I have been getting in a lot more running, a lot more sparring than I usually do,” he said.

“So the training has been a little bit rough on the body; thank God Christmas is coming soon so we can get a little break and we can eat and not have to worry about diets and all that - but it’s all been done properly and in good faith that we are prepared properly for this upcoming event.”

Winning in St Maarten, he said, would also be a great way to build momentum into 2023 when he launches his campaign to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

“I believe I am ranked first in the Caribbean so it is a matter of upholding that rank and lengthening the distance between me and the rest of the field," he said.

“Boxing nationals are coming up in January. I want to use that to qualify for other events that lead-up to the Olympics in two years’ time, so that’s the main medium-term goal I am looking at right now.”

Blake’s ambition and confidence has helped him attract supporting sponsors like Aeolus Shipping that in addition to backing the national team, has also built a strong relationship with the rising MMA star.

“We are so happy to be on board. We are definitely fans of boxing and MMA sports and to know that we have Jamaican talent in this sport is something that we want to highlight and spread awareness and we are looking forward to great things from Shiaeine and this brand partnership,” said Jessica Dewar, Marketing Director at Aeolus.

“We couldn’t be happier to be a huge support to his journey and we wish him all the best. Over the last two to three years we have seen him blossom and grow on his journey to become a huge brand representative for the country and in the international sphere. We are looking forward to seeing him do great things.”

He, in turn, expressed his gratitude for the support being provided for him and the team.

“We couldn’t have gotten the team over there without them and it is something that I have been talking with them about for some time,” Blake said.

“They have always supported the fights that I have. Them reaching out to us shows that there is support and their supporting us in this endeavor -  a lot of times when I compete and post things online people are saying is this really happening in Jamaica - the wider community doesn’t really know about it (the sport) so for them to now be on brand with us helping us to get out there to the wider public, we are really happy about it.”

The team departs Jamaica on Tuesday, November 29.

Nicholas Pooran’s purple patch with the bat continued on Sunday as the Deccan Gladiators notched a close 18-run win over Delhi Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10.

Pooran, who came into the match with scores of 77 and 80, scored 34 from just 17 balls as Gladiators posted 140-2 from their 10 overs.

After losing Jason Roy for four in the first over, Pooran hit three fours and two sixes as he and opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore added 122 for the second wicket. Pooran was eventually dismissed in the ninth over by Waquas Maqsood, who took 1-21.

Meanwhile, Kohler-Cadmore blasted his way to an unbeaten 82 with eight fours and six sixes.

He and Andre Russell put on 12 in the final eight balls with the Jamaican scoring 10 that included a six over extra cover off Shimraz Ahmed, who conceded 11 in the over.

Imad Wasim had figures of 1-17.

Delhi Bulls made a good fist of it to score 122-4 from their 10 overs.

They owed their solid effort to a 24-ball 48 from Tim David and Rilee Rossouw, who scored 28 from 15. However, needing to score 14 an over proved too much for Delhi Bulls despite a gallant 14 not out from eight balls from Keemo Paul at the end.

David and Rossouw put on 79 for the third wicket after Tom Banton (12) and Rahkeem Cornwall (2) were back in the hutch in the third over with 26 runs on the board.

Russell got rid of the dangerous David in the ninth over effectively swinging the pendulum in Gladiators’ favour for the remaining 10 balls from which the Delhi Bulls could only muster 17 runs.

Russell’s two overs cost 26 runs but Josh Little proved much more effective with the wickets of Cornwall and Rossouw to return figures of 2-11.

With eight goals in seven matches so far this season Khadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw is the 2022/2023 Women’s Super League leading scorer. She is tied with Aston Villa striker Rachel Daley, who also has a similar shot to goal conversion rate of 30 per cent with the Jamaican.

What is impressive is that Shaw’s eight goals is one less than the nine she scored in all of last season, her first in the WSL after she transferred from Bordeaux in the French league where her 22 goals in her final season won her the Golden Boot. Those eight goals have lifted Manchester City Women to fourth with 15 points from seven games, after losing their first two matches of the season.

So what has made the difference this season that has seen the Jamaican regain the form that has defined her international and club careers to date?

The 25-year-old Shaw has scored 56 goals in just 38 matches for Jamaica, which makes the Jamaica's most prolific striker, male or female. In college, she scored 27 goals in 35 matches for the Tennessee Volunteers while At Bordeaux, she scored 32 times in 35 appearances for the club over two seasons.

She explained that her dip in form last season was caused by her adjusting to a new style of play.

“I have always been consistent,” she said. “In the beginning, City plays a certain way; they have a structure, a culture and the style of play in France was completely different from what I was used to so when I went to City it was like an eye-opener.”

She said the way City wanted to play was difficult for her to adjust to because even as Gareth Taylor is the head coach, Pep Guardiola’s philosophy is what holds sway.

“Pep plays a massive role in the club and to adjust to the way they wanted to play was very difficult and I was playing for minutes as well,” she explained, having to temporarily play second fiddle to Ellen White, who has since retired.

“After the first year, I looked back and reflected to see where I can get better, how I could improve. I watched a lot of film and when I came in (back from the off-season) I spoke with my video analysis guy and we spent a lot of time together so as the games go on I have tried to improve upon the areas in which I was lacking last season.”

Shaw will have a chance to improve her goal tally when Manchester City Women take on Brighton Hove Albion on Sunday, December 4.

Brighton lie ninth in the WSL with seven points from their seven games to date. They have conceded 26 goals in those seven games, the most by any team in the league this season. They seem ripe for the picking for the goal-hungry Jamaican.

The Jamaica Scorpions had two of the top three leading run scorers in the 2022 CG Insurance Super50 competition that ended on Saturday night with the Jamaican franchise defeated the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by three wickets in a tense encounter at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Captain Rovman Powell ended the tournament with the highest aggregate of 346 runs, just four more than Red Force captain Nicholas Pooran (342) and nine more than his teammate Brandon King (337). But it was success of his bowlers that led the Scorpions to their first regional 50-over title since 2012 when Tamar Lambert led Jamaica to victory.

Four Jamaican Scorpion bowlers are among the top 10 wicket takers in the tournament – Odean Smith and Nicholson Gordon each took 15 wickets and shared the prize of leading wicket taker with Red Force and former West Indies paceman Shannon Gabriel. Not far behind were spinner Dennis Bulli with 14 wickets and Jeavor Royal with 12.

Asked about the impact of Smith and Gordon, Powell said the two pace bowlers were key to the team’s success this season.

 “They were very, very important in the sense that every time I gave them the ball they delivered right throughout the tournament,” he said.

“As a captain, it is very good when you find bowlers that give you wickets in crucial times of the game and both of them have been fantastic throughout the entire tournament. Not the most fast-bowling friendly wickets to be honest but they have been very good.”

Smith took his 15 wickets at an average of 19.26 and economy of 5.25 wicket while Gordon was slightly more expensive at 21.26 and economy of 5.94.

Bulli snared wickets at an average of 18.64 and economy of 4.75 while Royal took his 12 wickets at an average of 21.91 and economy of 3.92.

Meanwhile, the team has been praised by the Jamaica Cricket Association on its triumphant season.

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) congratulates our national senior men’s team “The Jamaica Scorpions” on winning the regional CG United Super 50 Championship. This achievement is the end product of teamwork, intense preparation and exemplary leadership,” said President Billy Heaven in a statement released on Sunday.

“Under the astute leadership of Captain Rovman Powell and guidance of Head Coach Andrew Richardson and Assistant Coach Nikita Miller, the world witnessed the Jamaica Scorpions win five games back to back. The collective performance of the entire team has made Jamaica proud.”

According to Heaven, strategic planning by the JCA that places emphasis on a player centric approach built an ‘exceptional team’ that claimed the trophy in a year when Jamaica celebrates its 60^th year of independence.

“Cricket is known as the Gentleman’s Sport and on November 19, 2022, as the world celebrated International Men’s Day, Jamaica Scorpions provided the perfect celebration of the day winning the CG United Super 50 Championship in fine cricketing style,” Heaven said.

“This year Jamaica celebrates its 60th year of independence and cricket has always been a rich part of our history and legacy. The JCA is therefore extremely proud that our senior men’s team provided this gift to a proud nation on its diamond jubilee. Gentlemen we raise our bats to you.”

Jamaica Scorpions Captain Rovman Powell said he hoped fans of the team enjoyed their winning the 2022 CG Insurance Super50 title on Saturday night which ended a decade-long wait for the Jamaicans, who had not won a regional title since 2012.

Jamaica Scorpions captain Rovman Powell believes his unbeaten 105 against Guyana Harpy Eagles on Thursday night was one of the best he has played in his career.

Powell smashed seven fours and three sixes in a mature knock that steered the Scorpions to 322-7 in pursuit of the Harpy Eagles 318-9. It was the highest successful chase of the season and the best score by any team in the 2022 CG Insurance Super50 competition.

He shared in a crucial fourth-wicket partnership of 103 with Alwyn Williams who made 45 and then stands of 34 and 37 with Dennis Bulli (17) and Odean Smith (19), respectively before an unbroken 37-run eighth-wicket alliance with Jeavor Royal, who was on 18 at the end after hitting the match-winning six off Nail Smith.

In his post-match comments after his first List A century of the season and his fourth overall, the 29-year-old all-rounder rated his match-winning knock highly.

“I think it is one of my better 100s,” said Powell, who arrived at the crease with Jamaica 101-3 following the dismissal of Brandon King for a well-played 64.

“I got a very good start. It was a very good wicket to be honest and so once I paced the innings and stayed at the wicket we would win.”

He praised King for his half-century, his second of the season, that set up the victory for the Scorpions team that will face the star-studded defending champions Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the final on Saturday.

“It was very important,” he said of King’s 64. “It was important that someone get us off to a flying start and I think Brandon did that. It was just unfortunate that he couldn’t go a little longer.

“We were looking to get to 100 in 15 or so overs for the middle order to settle in and push around the ball and I think Brandon’s innings really set that up nicely.”

Wary of the quality of their opponents in Saturday’s final, Powell said it was essential for the Scorpions to improve in all three areas – batting, bowling and fielding – if they are to have any chance of dethroning the Trinidadian unit.

“Trinidad plays the best 50-over cricket in the Caribbean for a while now so it’s important for us to play very good cricket and improve batting, bowling and fielding,” he said perhaps referring to King dropping Shimron Hetmyer early in his innings. The West Indies middle order batsman went into top score for the Harpy Eagles with 86.

“Today (Thursday) we dropped a few catches. In the final, we cannot drop Trinidad’s big players like that.”

A century from Nicholas Pooran and half-centuries from Amir Jangoo and Darren Bravo led Trinidad and Tobago Red Force to a thrilling 10-run victory over the Barbados Pride in the first semi-final of the GC Insurance Super50 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on Wednesday.

Pooran hit five fours and eight sixes in his 111 that came from just 82 balls and was instrumental in getting the Red Force to 312-6, the highest score in the competition this season.

Chasing 313 for victory, Barbados were restricted to 302-8 despite an incredibly valiant 130 not out from 79 balls by Roshon Primus, his highest List A score.

The Pride were in early trouble at 13-2 in the fourth over after Shannon Gabriel had Zachary McCaskie caught at slip for one before returning to bowl Kyle Hope for four. The Pride slipped into further trouble at 45-3 when Sunil Narine had Shai Hope caught behind for 24.

Johnathan Carter and Nicholas Kirton got Barbados back on track with a 63-run partnership that got them to 108 when Shannon Gabriel picked up his third wicket, having Carter caught at deep backward point by Jason Mohammed for 45.

Kirton did not last much longer.

Fourteen balls and 10 runs later, he was caught by Narine off the bowling of Yanick Cariah for 35 leaving Barbados sinking fast at 118-5, still 195 runs behind.

When Shamar Springer was trapped lbw by Imran Khan for five, all seemed lost for Barbados, who at this point were 146-6.

However, Roshon Primus and Akeem Jordan were not ready to give up. Together they put together a run-a-ball 93 runs for the seventh wicket before things unraveled for Barbados for the final time. Jordan was run out off the first ball of Gabriel's eighth over for 33. Gabriel then picked up his fourth wicket next ball when he bowled Jomel Warrican for a duck and suddenly Barbados, who were 239-6 had slipped to 239-8.

Primus continued to resist. Consecutive sixes and a boundary in the 45th over bowled by Terrance Hinds brought Primus his maiden List A century from just 61 balls.

With 17 needed from the final over being bowled by Shannon Gabriel, Primus hit the first ball for four but three dot balls followed, meaning Barbados needed 13 from two deliveries. Primus took two from the fifth and the match was over. Primus' unbeaten knock included 10 fours and nine sixes and with Camarie Boyce (13 not), he put on 63 for the ninth wicket but it was simply not enough.

Shannon Gabriel was the best of the Red Force bowlers finishing with 4-43.

 Batting first, T&T Red Force were in early trouble losing two wickets inside three overs after Akeem Jordan dismissed Kjorn Ottley for one and Jason Mohammed for a duck with consecutive deliveries. The early dismissals brought Jangoo and Bravo together and they put on 92 for the third wicket before Bravo was caught at fine leg by Jomel Warrican off the bowling of Springer for 54 in the 24^th over.

His dismissal brought Pooran to the crease and he immediately went after the bowling playing some injudicious shots and was fortunate not be dismissed early on. However, as he settled into his innings, he pummeled the bowling racing to 50 in just 41 balls. He put on 147 with Jangoo before the latter was caught by Jordan off Springer for 81 in the 44^th over. Pooran was eventually dismissed in the 46^th trying to hit Springer for six.

With the score 256-5, 300 looked on the cards and the Red Force duly obliged thanks to a sparkling cameo from Akeal Hosein who smashed 42 from just 20 deliveries. He hit three fours and three sixes in a 53-run sixth-wicket stand with Terrance Hinds before he was caught by Jordan off Springer in the final over.

Hinds was not out on nine and Sunil Narine on two at the end.

Springer finished with 4-64 from nine overs while Jordan returned figures of 2-31 from his allotment of 10 overs.

Dwayne Bravo has lauded Kieron Pollard on his decision to retire from the Indian Premier League.

Jamaica's Reggae Girlz lost 2-1 to Paraguay at the Kingston’s National Stadium on Sunday in what was the second of two international friendlies. The Reggae Girlz won the first encounter against their South American opponents in Montego Bay on Thursday, November 10.

First-half goals from Celsa Sandaoval and Ramona Martinez in the 16^th and 35^th minutes, respectively gave the visitors a 2-0 lead at half-time before Khadijah ‘Bunny’ Shaw pulled one back from the penalty spot in the 61^st minute.

Glaring errors by the Jamaica’s gifted the Paraguayans their two goals against a wasteful Jamaican team that missed several opportunities to score.

Deneisha Blackwood’s errant back pass was seized upon by Sandaoval, who beat an advancing Rebecca Spencer in the Jamaican goal before shooting into the bottom right hand corner.

The second 19 minutes later resulted in a poor pass from Havana Solaun, which gave the Paraguayan forwards to spread the ball wide before a cross found Martinez free inside the box to smash home from close range.

Head Coach Lorne Donaldson said he was not surprised by the slow start. He said he saw it coming given that the girls were not sharp during their warm-ups and it showed in the opening 20 minutes of the game.

He explained, however, that the match was not all about trying to win as there were several players that the coaching staff wanted to take a look at before finalizing the squad for the World Cup still nine months away.

“Our camp is a little bit different from Paraguay. We are still looking at stuff. We are still looking at players, so obviously we want to win but it is not going to be at all cost for this camp because we have to give some players a look, so stuff is going to be a little bit off and that was evident in the first 20 minutes,” he said.

Among the things that we “off” was the Reggae Girlz shooting. Chances fell to Drew Spence and Shaw in the first half but were either blocked missed entirely.

Spence’s 13^th minute shot was parried by goalkeeper Christine Ricalde while Shaw dragged one past the far post just two minutes later.

Siobhan Wilson’s cross fell to Paige Bailey-Paige, whose shot from inside the box was charged down by a defender. Allyson Swaby also had a shot from two yards blocked by Ricalde.

Three changes made at the resumption of play resulted in Jamaica being more organized and stable defensively. Vyan Sampson replaced an ineffective Solaun and Atlanta Primus came on to replace Kayla McCoy in midfield while fullback Tiernney Wiltshire replaced Malikae Dayes.

Bailey-Gayle and Wilson were substituted for wingers Cheyna Matthews and Rachel Jones in the 59^th minute, the latter making an immediate impact.

Jones’ driving run down the left flank and resulting cross led to the handled ball from which a penalty was awarded allowing Jamaica back into the game.

The changes, Donaldson said, were a direct result of the team’s inability to control the game and limit the number of turnovers, which invariably but the defence under pressure.

“If you see, when we came out in the second half there were two changes in the midfield because we couldn’t control the game, we couldn’t anything. We were passing the ball to the next team, so that’s a part of saying this would never work or this is not going to work,” he said while lamenting the poor finishing that ultimately cost the team.

“Should we have knocked some goals in, maybe we should have but such is football. To us, it’s preparation and the end product is what we are looking at.”

Donaldson said this was the last window when the coaching staff would be looking at new players. He indicated that by the next camp they should have the 30 players from which the final squad will be selected for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is among the five finalists for World Athletics Female Athlete of the Year Award.

The five-time world 100m champion made the cut after the three-way voting process determined the finalists.

The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family cast their votes by email, while fans logged their decisions online via the World Athletics social media platforms where a record 1.3 million votes were registered.

The World Athletics Council’s vote counted for 50 per cent of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes each counted for 25 per cent of the final result.

Shericka Jackson, the 2022 World 200m champion, failed to make the cut.

Fraser-Pryce being among the finalists was not surprising given the outstanding year she had last season when she became the first running athlete to win five world titles in the same event and ran a record seven times under 10.7s including a world-leading 10.62s.

She was also the Diamond League champion for the fifth time in her illustrious career.

Also among the finalists is the newly minted 100m hurdles world-record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who added the Diamond League and Commonwealth Games title to her resume during the past season. She set a new world record of 12.12 during the semi-finals of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July before running a wind-aided 12.06 to win her first global title.

Another world-record holder, Sydney McLaughlin of the United States, is also among the finalists. The super-talented American broke the 400m hurdles world record twice during the season – 51.41 at the US Championships before lowering it to a jaw-dropping 50.68 in the final of the World Championships.

McLaughlin won a second gold medal in Oregon as a member of the USA’s 4x400m relay team.

Also among the finalists is Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas, the 2022 World Indoor and Outdoor triple jump champion. The 2022 Diamond League champion also improved upon her own world record in the event with a 15.74m performance in Belgrade.

Peru’s Kimberly Garcia completes the five finalists. Garcia, the World 20km race walk champion is her country’s first ever World Athletics Championships medallist. Garcia is also the World 35km race walk champion in a South American record that saw her complete a race walk double.

She is also World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships 20km bronze medallist.

The winner of World Athletics Women Athlete of the Year will be announced in early December.

Nicholas Pooran just missed out on a century but helped Trinidad and Tobago Red Force defeat Windward Islands Volcanoes by seven wickets with six balls to spare at Tarouba on Saturday. The win means the Red Force have advanced to the semi-finals of the CG Insurance Super 50 competition.

In match reduced by rain to 40 overs, Pooran scored an unbeaten 99 and Darren Bravo 67 not out sharing in an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 155 as TT Red Force cruised to 249-3 (D/L). The West Indies white-ball captain scored his runs from just 71 balls and hit 11 fours and two sixes along the way. Bravo hit nine fours in his 63-ball knock.

Opener Kjorn Ottley made 43 for the Trinidad franchise while partnering in a 49-run second-wicket stand with Jason Mohammed, who made 25. Ottley was eventually dismissed after putting on 13 for the third partnership of 13 with Bravo, who would find a match-winning partner in Pooran.

Justin Greaves was the best of the Windward bowlers with 2-55. Preston McSween took 1-57.

Earlier, the Windwards recovered from a precarious 36-4 in the seventh over after Akeal Hosein 2-37 and Shannon Gabriel 1-36 did the early damage.

The owed their recovery to an unbeaten knocks of 90 from Sunil Ambris and 68 from Andre Fletcher, who shared in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 165 that took the team to 201-4 from their 40 overs.

Unfortunately, thanks to Pooran and company it proved not to be enough.

Khadijah Shaw has expressed her delight at winning the Women’s Super League Player of the Month Award for the very first time.

The 24-year-old Manchester City and Jamaica striker was named Barclays WSL player for October after leading her team to victories over Leicester City, Tottenham and Liverpool, scoring five goals in those three matches.

Shaw’s seven goals this season make her the leading scorer in the WSL and has helped City climb to fourth in the league on 12 points after losing their first two games of the season.

“I am delighted to win this award for the first time. It has been a very successful month for us as a team and I am grateful to everyone who voted for me in a very talented shortlist of players,” said Shaw who played for Jamaica in their 1-0 win over Paraguay in an international friendly in Jamaica on Thursday.

“We are feeling so confident after these recent wins and I am enjoying my football right now personally, but the most important thing is results and helping the team to have as much success as possible.”

Shaw is in her second season with Manchester City after joining in 2021 from Bordeaux in France where she was the Golden Boot winner with 22 goals and seven assists.

Shaw will suit up for Jamaica again on Sunday when Jamaica plays Paraguay at the National Stadium in Kingston in the second of two international friendlies.

Lisa Smith has a vision that Antigua and Barbuda netball can one day be a force to be reckoned with in the Caribbean and by extension, the world.

However, it will require massive investment and patience if the tiny Caribbean island famous for its white-sand beaches and iconic cricketers is to achieve its goal of producing world-class netball players.

Smith, an experienced Level 2 United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC) netball coach, volunteered to lead the Antigua netball programme in August and nine weeks later took a team to the Americas Netball Qualifier in Jamaica in October.,

With only a few weeks to prepare, the team lost all seven matches it played but Smith came away feeling optimistic about the future, at least from the perspective of available talent.

“I keep trying to remind myself that I arrived in Antigua nine weeks ago and put a team together with people that had played on some international stages at the OECS but not necessarily this level,” she said after the team had suffered its third loss, a 62-29 defeat against Grenada.

“This is a whole new level for Antigua netball. I am seeing so much about that team that is potential for the future. I always knew there was going to be an immense amount of work. That’s the exciting part. That’s the part that I love.”

Subsequent losses to Jamaica (80-29), Cayman (47-42), St Lucia (54-32) and Barbados (68-29), along with opening-day losses to Trinidad and Tobago (55-24) and the United States (34-22) meant that Antigua will be looking to the future fully aware of the significant work that lay ahead.

Smith provided a frank assessment of the team’s performance afterwards.

“The Antigua team by their own admittance were grossly under-prepared when I arrived to coach them in August,” she told Sportsmax. TV

“However, all we could do is set some plans, carry them out and make the first steps to encourage the players involved to see themselves and treat themselves as national athletes.

“The creation of a squad and effective working units were paramount to the coaching team having achieved any of the targets we set for ourselves.

“The standard was expected to be high and it didn’t surprise me to see losses but we stuck to regular quarter-by-quarter, match-by-match plans.”

Notwithstanding the challenges, Smith revealed some positives that she took from the tournament, the building blocks for a foundation to build on for the future.

 “(We) achieved defence targets by holding off goals and managed to in some cases exceed our goal targets,” she said.

“We suffered early losses but learnt how to fight through third and fourth quarters with resolve and physical strength. Rotations were tough due to several mid-week injuries and the frequency of matches with zero recovery took a heavy toll on players.

“We used all our reserves and saw advantages for using our younger players proving we no longer need to worry about the loss of seasoned players from the team but use their experience to develop and encourage the next generation.”

For that development to become reality, many changes are necessary for Antigua’s netball to grow. For one, there is a desperate need for even more funding.

Netball on the islands does not get enough support and is almost entirely dependent on fundraising efforts and the generosity of benefactors.  However, some financial backing is provided by the Antigua Olympic Committee and other sponsors, for which Smith has expressed her gratitude.

"We’re grateful to all our sponsors, in particular the NOC in Antigua, who have shown continuous support to our programme," she said.

But more is needed.

Shortly after Smith arrived in Antigua in August, she launched a GoFundMe account to raise £1000 to assist with getting the team to Jamaica. Each player on the squad was also tasked with raising US$450 to fund the trip.

Somehow, they managed to raise the estimated EC$100,000 needed but going forward things will have to change.

“We have pencilled together a 10-year plan but obviously it takes a lot of funding and I am listening to the Jamaican head of netball and the president of netball telling me how difficult it is,” Smith said.

“Times that by a million because it’s me that’s been able to be out there getting sponsorship in the last nine weeks. We didn’t know we were coming until (the week before the Americas Netball Qualifier) and we physically did not have the funds in order to get here until we got the last few sponsors on board by begging, stealing and borrowing. I am going to be dead honest about that, that shouldn’t be the case.”

The islands also do not have a structured grassroots programme, something that Smith hopes to correct.

“That needs putting into place hugely,” she declared.

“There’s a schools’ netball programme which, from my point of view, should therefore be feeding into a higher programme of performance so that we could take those best players from those teams in the village leagues and the schools and be producing more of a performance academy of those players from U14, U16, U18, and start to develop that so that they’re feeding the national team and that is where my focus will be next year.”

It will take years for Antigua and Barbuda to raise the level of play to the desired standards but the goal is to become the next ‘Jamaica’ in the Caribbean.

 “The comparison is huge but it’s where we want to get to. I always enjoy watching the Jamaica Senior team when they come over to the UK. I have watched all of their matches and been courtside watching them. I absolutely love watching them play,” she said.

Smith was very impressed with the Sunshine Girls and how well they performed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England in August.

“Their style of play is what is so attractive to me and that’s why I like being out here coaching because of the style and flair that Caribbean netball brings. Then the structure that we then put in place from a lot of the UK and Australian netball, I love the blend of that.

“Jamaica has got it right. They took the Commonwealth by storm and I think they came out with a bit of a hard match on that last one but we were all rooting for them.”

Referring to the young Jamaican team that went unbeaten in their exhibition games in the Qualifier, Smith said: “They put so much athleticism into everything. Those girls there out on the court look world-class. To have that as your next generation brings goosebumps and I would love to be in that position one day.”

Jamaica and Cameroon played to an entertaining 1-1 draw in their maiden encounter at the Omnisport Stadium in Limbe, Cameroon on Wednesday.