More help needed for netball

As Jamaicans go to the polls today, national senior netball captain Jhaneile Fowler is urging the party that forms the next government to pump a lot more money into the national netball programme.

“For whichever government that is coming, what I would like them to do is to pump some resources in our organisation,” said Fowler. “I want them to help us to have more training facilities, help us to have more equipment for training, and to supply us with more funding in order for the organisation to take care of the players’ needs.”

“The facilities that we use are below average compared to many of the other top teams around the world,” Fowler added.

She underscored that the Sunshine Girls, who are ranked fourth in the world, have been performing well over the years with little help from the Government.

“We have exceptional talent and for a long time we have been relying on our raw talent, and so I reckon if we had the resources that can develop us even more, then we will be a force to be reckoned with more than we already are,” Fowler said.

The 31-year-old Fowler, who is currently plying her trade in the Suncorp Super League in Australia, added that she would like for the national players to receive a monthly stipend from the Government, which would, in turn, make their preparation for international assignments a lot easier.

“It would be lovely if our national team could get some sort of compensation from the Government, because the Australians and New Zealanders get salaries and so they can just (focus on) just playing for the national team,” said Fowler.

“They also have their domestic leagues there which pay them really well, and so if there were some sort of compensation for us as players to make it even easier for us to commit to the programme and give the programme our 100 per cent, then that would be really good for us,” she said.