Sunshine rising - Daley-Morris wants world No. 2-ranking to motivate team to World Cup win

Having moved up one spot to second on the latest International Netball Federation (INF) world rankings table, Netball Jamaica President Dr Paula Daley-Morris said the Sunshine Girls are a lot more motivated and confident to win this month’s Netball World Cup.

This marks the highest world ranking for the Sunshine Girls since Netball Jamaica was established in 1959.

The improvement comes just over a week before the Sunshine Girls’ participation at the World Cup, which begins on July 12 in Liverpool, England.

“We are ecstatic because it is really good news to get just a few days before we enter the World Cup,” Daley-Morris said. “The mood in the camp has been very good and this has just really added to the vibes.

“The young ladies are feeling very pleased with themselves and their performances, as they should be. We are very happy about the fact that we have achieved another milestone, because we have never been second in the world at the senior level.” The Sunshine Girls have finished fourth at the two previous Netball World Cups in 2011 and 2015.

However, Daley-Morris said the Sunshine Girls are going to put in extra work in training to ensure that they are on the podium this year, while looking to maintain or improve on the ranking.

“We don’t want this to be a temporary position because we want them to leave the World Cup in an even better position. Winning the World Cup would be even better for us,” she said. “The girls are believers because they believe that they can win it, and that is half the battle won. However, this places a lot more pressure on us to perform and to be on our A-game all the time.”

The Sunshine Girls will start their World Cup campaign against Fiji on July 12.