Sterling ready for South Africa test
Ace defender sees improvement in Sunshine Girls play, warns against different brand of netball
Published:Sunday | July 30, 2023 | 12:10 AM
THEY MAY be unbeaten to start their Netball World Cup campaign but Jamaica will get their first real test when they face host nation South Africa today at 11 a.m. Jamaica time, in their Pool C clash in Cape Town.
The Sunshine Girls defeated Wales 75-40 yesterday in their second Pool C game, thanks to another commanding shooting performance from captain Jhaniele Fowler, who led the way with 39 goals. Romelda Aiken-George assisted with 19 goals.
It was the start of a productive day for Jamaican sports as Jamaica’s senior women’s football team sent greetings on Instagram hours before they registered their first Women’s World Cup win.
While Jamaica have had a positive start to the campaign so far, goalkeeper Shamera Sterling warned that the team not only has to deal with the strength that the Proteas possess, but also with a crowd that won’t be giving them the same support as in previous games.
“We will never underestimate them and the African teams. They bring a different style of netball. It is going to be a good match coming against them, knowing that they have the home crowd. This won’t be the first time that we have played at the international level where the crowd is not in our favour,” Sterling told The Sunday Gleaner.
Sterling said there have been improvements in the Wales game but emphasised the importance of taking care of the ball and not committing unforced errors.
Sterling’s comments came despite the massive 105-25 win the Sunshine Girls enjoyed against Sri Lanka on Friday.
“There was improvement but we still need to work on our turnovers. We need to take care of the ball going into the South Africa game,” she said.
Jamaica had 15 turnovers in their game yesterday, two less than they had in that opener against Sri Lanka.
What has captain Jhaniele Fowler encouraged, however, is the way the team maintained their intensity levels, even with heavy rotation of players.
“The mere fact that we had changes throughout the quarters and, when everyone went on, they were able to just swap in and didn’t miss a beat, that was really good,” Fowler said.
It is that collective performance that Sterling is targeting. While she will be one of the key players being called upon, especially after her title-winning season in Australia, she is adamant that the Sunshine Girls cannot depend on one person for their success.
“One person cannot play netball. It takes a team to win. So, hopefully we can be together for this entire tournament and cross the line,” Sterling said.
South Africa will also enter the Jamaica clash unbeaten, after dispatching Sri Lanka 87-32 in their second group game.