Confident Under-16s off to regional netball tourney

Carline Graham-Powell, coach of Jamaica's Under-16 netballers, says they are confident and ready for action ahead of this year's Jean Pierre Championships in St Lucia.

The young Sunshine Girls, who are the defending champions for the tournament, left yesterday ahead of their opening game tomorrow against St Vincent and Grenadines.

Graham-Powell said the team has had a good build-up to the tournament and the players are looking forward to giving a good account of themselves at the championship.

"We are very confident. We have put in the work over the past weeks ,the girls are ready and they are prepared to go to St Lucia and defend our championship title," said Graham-Powell.

"The girls are eager because we have the top players from the Under-16 ISSA schoolgirl netball competitions and you know that they are very skilled players," she said.

However, Graham-Powell added despite being confident, they are not going to underestimate their opponents.

"We are cognisant of the fact that we have not lost a game in this tournament for a long time and girls are aware of that fact as well and so they know that they have a responsibility on their shoulders to retain that title and to take it back to Jamaica," Graham-Powell said.

She added: "We are not going out there to take this thing lightly because we have been constantly letting them know that the country is depending on them and Netball Jamaica has invested a lot in them ... so they know that they have the responsibility to get the job done," she said.

The tournament, which begins today and ends next Friday, will be played in a round robin format.