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Sunshine Girls set sights on gold at Netball World Cup

Published:Saturday | April 22, 2023 | 12:59 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange (second right), Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport with (from left) Tricia Robinson, President of Netball Jamaica; Mark Telfer, Regional Brand Manager of J Wray and Nephew Limited; and Molly Rhone, past Presiden
Rudolph Brown
Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange (second right), Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport with (from left) Tricia Robinson, President of Netball Jamaica; Mark Telfer, Regional Brand Manager of J Wray and Nephew Limited; and Molly Rhone, past President of World Netball at the Netball Jamaica World Cup ‘Road to Cape Town Campaign’ launch at Knutsford Court hotel on Chelsea Avenue in New Kingston yesterday.

WORLD number four ranked Jamaica who have been to every Netball World Cup since its inception in 1963 and have finished third on three occasions in 1991, 1993 and 2007 are taking aim at bringing home the gold medal in the 2023 edition which will be hosted for the first time on African soil.

The Netball World Cup will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from July 28 to August 6. Speaking at the launch of the ‘Road to South Africa Campaign’ at The Knutsford Court Hotel yesterday, head coach of the national team, Connie Francis, said the girls are in good stead to not only capture a medal but to represent themselves and the country well.

“I can you tell you one thing, the girls in Australia (Suncorp Super Netball League) are ready because they’ve been in high competition but the ones here are still a work-in- progress. I played in five Netball World Cup and the hunger is always the same. I think we have a real positive shot. I know it’s going to be very hard work, but success for us would be to medal,” said coach Francis.

Experienced goal attack Shanice Beckford who has won 67 caps, currently third most behind Jhaniele Fowler (93) and Romelda Aiken-George (80), believes the recently concluded Seprod/Elite league was a solid preparation platform for the local girls as it gave them well-needed game time ahead of the tournament.

“It (preparation) has been going well, we have most of our players overseas playing in their various leagues but the ones who are here are trying their best to get ready. The recently concluded Seprod/Elite league was good preparation for us as we got a lot of court time. We will be going back into the gym along with doing more court work as a group and we are just excited for the World Cup,” Beckford said.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange stated that her responsibility is to ensure that girls have everything needed to adequately prepare them for the task that lies ahead. She added that coming back with the gold medal would tie perfectly into Jamaica’s 61st anniversary celebrations.

“For me as minister of sport, my aim is to ensure that our sportsmen and women are equipped adequately mentally, physically, emotionally and financially to compete with the world. It’s means that the support is there so they’re in a position to concentrate and focus on being well prepared. They have a good chance as any of the other top teams to win the Netball World Cup and as we would be going through the celebrations of our 61st independence it would be the icing on the cake and the crowning glory for us,” the minister stated.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com