Henry: I am committed

Former national netball player Sasher-Gaye Henry is back on the side lines as head coach of the Sunshine Girls.

Henry, alongside co-coach Marvette Anderson, guided the Girls to a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in 2018 but would depart the team some weeks after of that same year.

However, Henry says she is here to stay this time around.

“I did some reflection and I just know that I am fully committed whole heartedly to the programme,” she said.

“Challenges will come, and we just have to push hard beyond those challenges,” she added.

She said she is better prepared to help guide the team, and she is willing to work with Netball Jamaica to ensure that the programme is successful.

“For me, I had two issues. For example, I know that my relationship with my family is better now, and I’m able to move around freely. I am also a former player and coach and as a teacher, I believe I can offer guidance to the team through my experience,” she said.

Henry takes over from Connie Francis, who stepped down last September after guiding the Sunshine Girls to a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games to secure Jamaica’s highest finish in an international games and a bronze medal in the Netball World Cup. She says she is now working on building on what the team has already achieved and wants to implement a few new strategies to maximise the team’s potential.

“We are working very hard to get a psychologist on board. We already have fitness trainers, and we want to get more specialist coaches on the job. It is something that we are discussing and we are working very hard towards that,” she said.

Henry said she believes that the team can top the world ranking but admits that it will not be an easy task.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work, consistency, on-court and off-court work to really achieve this and play to the best,” she said.

She said one area that she would like to improve is the nation’s current Fast5 competitiveness after finishing fifth in a six-nation Fast5 World Netball Series in New Zealand in November 2023.

“Sometimes it’s the competition. The Fast5 is something that could be introduced at other levels in terms of the domestic competition,” Henry, who helped to guide the Girls to a silver medal in the Fast5 World Series in 2017, said.

It takes cash to care, and so Henry is appealing to corporate Jamaica to offer more financial support for the team.

“We want to build our brand, we want to put our girls out there, so we are working along with the association to come up with plans that we can get people to come on board to buy into how much this sport can do for Jamaica and do for these ladies. We are grateful for the sponsors that are on board, but we would love to see more coming on board (because) corporate Jamaica will benefit also,” she said.

Henry was selected for the job after being shortlisted with former Sunshine Girls assistant coach Annett Daley.