Forbes expects exciting Island Vibes Tournament

THE Leila Robinson Court will host the inaugural staging of the Island Vibes Netball Tournament set to tip off today at 6 p.m. The tournament will feature four teams: Jamaica under-16, Denbigh High, and Trinidad and Tobago’s under-16 and under-18 teams. Ahead of tip-off, Simone Forbes, vice president at Netball Jamaica, believes the Jamaican team is ready to take on all challengers over the weekend of matches.

“I think they’re very prepared. In addition to playing together as part of the national under-16 team, they’ve been preparing for the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association school league, so the girls have been playing a lot of netball ahead of the Island Vibes Tournament,” she stated

Forbes stated that based on conversations between her and President of Netball Trinidad and Tobago Shelly Ann Blackburn the girls from the twin-island republic are eagerly excited about showcasing their talents on Jamaican soil.

“They’re very excited as they were disappointed to have missed out on playing in the recent staging of the Youth Summer Invitational. They’ve been in training so just like our girls they’re looking forward to a fun-filled weekend of netball,” she added.

Forbes explained that the tournament was conceptualised on the basis of developing Jamaica’s youth netball programme. She also added that inviting other teams within the region to participate in tournaments of this nature will be beneficial to both parties.

“We’ve always focused on the Sunshine Girls, but one of our focuses for the next couple of years is the youth and their development. We had an under-13 netball programme that we are looking to restart along with the ‘pickney’ netball, which will focus on the babies. Therefore, we’ll be investing heavily in their development as netballers and citizens of Jamaica,” Forbes said. She added that the tournament is also a way of helping the region to get stronger in netball because if the region does better then Jamaica will do better.

The former captain of the Sunshine Girls said that this isn’t a one-off tournament, but will be a staple on Netball Jamaica’s calendar going forward.

“This is something that we’re looking to do every year. We thought it was important to fit this in and start now, so that by year four we can see growth and possibly some of these players in national programme. Therefore, we felt we should start at the grassroots level and then go up,” Forbes said.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com

Today’s matches

6 p.m: Denbigh High vs Trinidad’s under-18 team

7:15 p.m: Jamaica under-16 vs Trinidad’s under-16

Sunday’s matches

4:30 p.m: Denbigh High vs Trinidad’s under-18

5:45 p.m: Jamaica under-16 vs Trinidad under-16