Back-at-home Sunshine Girls optimistic

JAMAICA’S SUNSHINE Girls and England’s Vitality Roses touched down at the Norman Manley International Airport on Monday night for the second leg of the four-match Horizon Netball Series with high expectations for a tough but exciting two matches on their home soil.

The first two matches at the O2 Arena in Manchester, England, ended in a 49-49 tie and a 56-47 win to England, leaving the Sunshine Girls with some ground to make up.

“I think we did great as a team and we should be proud of our achievements, maybe the last result was not what we wanted but it’s something that we have to work through and try to come the last two games and improve on our performance,” said Sunshine Girls coach Sasher-Gaye Henry.

She felt that the Sunshine Girls were capable of winning the series outright but it would not be easy.

“It’s gonna be keenly contested. It’s gonna be competitive. We have to respect England and their second place in the world and we are number four. It all comes down to being disciplined, being precise in our movements and to improve on our weaknesses that we had. We have to limit our turnovers and capitalise on their strengths so it’s something that we have to work on.”

First-time captain Shamera Sterling-Humphrey was also optimistic about the team’s chances against the Vitality Roses.

“I feel like once we can fix what needs to be fixed in the three segments of our court, the mid-court, the shooting, and the defence, then I think Jamaica can get the two wins,” said Sterling-Humphrey.

The ace defender was also pleased with her performances.

Her counterpart Fran Williams, captain of the England team, was happy to be in Jamaica for the first time to compete against the Sunshine Girls and she was expecting two exciting matches.

“We are so excited to be here and it’s amazing to get to travel and get to play in other countries and explore new places. We’ve had such a good start to the series with two really close matches, including a draw, so it’s gonna be exciting on Monday and Tuesday next week,” said Williams.

High expectations

England’s coach Jess Thirlby also had high expectations for positive results from the two matches although she thinks that it will be tough against the Sunshine Girls on home soil with home support.

“We know that this is gonna be a really tough ask coming out to Jamaica but we know we are on the hunt for one more win to try and take that series. Our expectations of ourselves are high, but the Jamaica Sunshine Girls have got some, if not a lot, of world-class girls in that side. It’s been a tough challenge at home and they obviously managed to get that draw with us, so it’s game on over here. I am sure they are gonna love being back here at home and we know the crowd will be right behind them, so a very different challenge here.”

The Sunshine Girls are back in training to fix their issues as they prepare to win their two home matches in front of a full National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) in Kingston.

Netball Jamaica has started to sell tickets on various platforms as they court the netball community to come out and support the team, who will be playing their first series in front of their home crowd in over 15 months.

The final two matches in the series will be played in Jamaica next week on Monday the 25th and Tuesday the 26th at the NISC.

Monday’s match will start at 6:30 p.m., while on Tuesday tip-off is 7 p.m.