Fowler seeks Netball Jamaica urgency
Published:Thursday | October 10, 2019 | 12:23 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
National senior netball team captain Jhaniele Fowler says that the team is well behind in its preparations for the upcoming Quad Series, which will be hosted by England in January.
The series, which will be held from January 19-26, will also involves world champions New Zealand and South Africa.
The Sunshine Girls, who are ranked fourth in the world, are yet to commence training for the series as Netball Jamaica (NJ) continues its search for a head coach after Marvette Anderson’s contract was not renewed. This is after the Jamaicans team’s poor performance at the Netball World Cup in July.
The Sunshine Girls finished fifth at the championships as they failed to make the semi-finals for the first time since 1995.
“We are a bit behind in our preparations, but if they come in with the right programme, then I think we can step it up and be ready by January,” Fowler said.
Important series
“It is a very important series with the likes of England, South Africa, New Zealand, and us because it is also a ranking series where you can gain points towards your world rankings. It will be good if we can go there and put on a good showing so that we can up our ranking as well.”
The 30-year-old Fowler, who plies her trade in Australian Suncorp Super Netball with the West Coast Fever, says that NJ must act swiftly to ensure that all is in place very soon, ahead of the series.
“I think that things need to be done very quickly, but I think the association is doing all that it can to get the ball rolling as we look forward to this very important series in January,” she said.
Fowler, who is rated as the best goal shooter in world, is set to suit up for the Saracens Mavericks in this month’s annual British Fast5 All-Stars Championship.
She is scheduled to play in the Mavericks’ opening match of the championships at the Copper Box Arena in London, England, on Saturday.
The championship features 12-minute matches, an all-star 5-point line, and a Golden Buzzer Power Play. The tournament will feature eight teams from the Vitality Netball Superleague.