CAC netball landmark excites leaders

MARVA BERNARD, president of the Americas Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA), was beaming with pride after it was announced by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) yesterday that netball has been added to the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games.

This is the first time in the history of the CAC Games that netball will be played and it is scheduled to take place at the 24th edition of the Games in 2023 in San Salvador, El Salvador.

“This journey began in October 2019, when the CEO of World Netball and I made a presentation to the ODECABE/CACSO Congress in Panama,” said Bernard of the regional sporting body that has been renamed Centro Caribe Sports, which owns the CAC Games.

“We appealed to the members to vote to include netball to the list of sporting disciplines at these Games. It’s exciting for us as a sport to be added and the opportunities to expand our reach into the Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas is endless,” she said.

In making the announcement, JOA President, Christopher Samuda, who is a member of the Executive Board of Centro Caribe Sports, said: “Netball got, deservedly, our approval to take a seat at the regional table and with this accomplishment the journey now begins to globalise the sport and the JOA stands ready to again play a signal role.”

An established sport in English-speaking regional territories and now a staple item on the sporting agenda of Spanish-speaking countries, Secretary General and CEO of the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), Ryan Foster, was never in doubt that the sport would transition.

“I have the privilege of sitting on the Technical Commission of Centro Caribe Sports and from the get-go, I inked my finger and campaigned for netball for I was confident that the sport’s credentials would result in a landslide victory.”

As the number of Olympic sports on the agenda for multi-sport games increases, the need for a non-Olympic sport to ensure that it is “first to market” among its peers becomes increasingly critical to entry to such events.

“Insofar as netball is concerned, we at the JOA understood that in order to become a resident of the household of multi-sport games of the Olympic Movement, the sport had to muscle its way to first in the line and present, persuasively, credentials for occupancy,” Samuda said.

The pedigree of Jamaica in netball is well known and in the run-up to the 2023 San Salvador CAC Games, the JOA and Netball Jamaica, in partnership with Centro Caribe Sports, will be hosting educational workshops and training sessions for teams of Spanish-speaking countries with a view to enhancing their skills set and technical competences in the sport.

“What is the value of knowledge and expertise if they’re not shared in creating greater capital and opportunities for others in the sporting fraternity?” Foster said.

Bernard pointed out that netball has been growing steadily across the Spanish-speaking countries over the years and therefore this is a massive boost for her organisation, to have the sport at the 2023 CAC Games.

“Americas Netball is training coaches and umpires to meet this growing demand for our sport that this exciting inclusion in a multi-sport games will bring,” she said.

Bernard, who is former president of Netball Jamaica (NJ), also expressed gratitude to all the parties that made this venture a reality.

“Thanks to the Jamaica Olympic Association and all the Olympic committees of the region who would have made this possible,” she said.

“A special word of thanks to President Louis Mejia Oviedo, who promised me that he would do everything to ensure that netball would be added at the CAC Games,” Bernard said.

Tricia Robinson, president of NJ, said they are delighted by the sport’s admission to the games.

“I am really excited about this and I am pleased that persons came on board and lobbied for this to happen and it is now a reality,” said Robinson.

“This is the first time that netball will be played at these Games and so we are happy to be getting more playing opportunities for our girls,” she said. “It is a significant boost for the sport because netball is not just for the Caribbean, Australia, England and New Zealand, it is a sport that needs to be worldwide and across all countries.”