Robinson hopes new sponsorship triggers additional support to meet $51m target
Published:Wednesday | January 4, 2023 | 1:39 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
WITH A target of $51 million to fund the senior team’s Netball World Cup campaign, Netball Jamaica president Tricia Robinson is hoping that a partnership with National Bakery will trigger more corporate support.
Robinson’s comments come as National Bakery announced its sponsorship of the team in a ceremony yesterday worth $10 million.
The funds are earmarked for the team’s preparation at the tournament to be held in South Africa seven months from now.
The partnership comes ahead of the Sunshine Girls’ tour of England which starts next Wednesday. The team left the island today in preparation for the three-game series.
“It is always good to have financial partners coming on board and supporting the national programme. It is going to take us $51 million to get to the Word Cup. We have to fund ourselves and are certainly grateful that they have come on board and are supporting us,” Robinson said.
“Everybody loves a winner and we are the most successful team sport in Jamaica, in the Caribbean and we embrace the partnerships when they come on board. We are expecting Brand Jamaica to come on board and support us.”
According to National Bakery Director of Sales and Marketing, Craig Hendrickson, the funding will be put towards the development and coaching efforts.
Robinson, last August, indicated that the organisation was working to gain sponsorship to increase the salary of head coach Connie Francis. Robinson said that the injection will help to increase the resources to meet their objectives.
“With National coming on board and sponsoring our development programme, it is crucial to the programme and it will certainly go a long way in helping us to get the relevant resources that we need to sustain the programme,” Robinson said.
The England tour will be, according to Robinson, the final international tour before the World Cup in July with Jamaica facing Wales, Sri Lanka and the hosts, South Africa, in their group.
Sunshine Girls captain Jhaniele Fowler said a Netball World Cup could only be won if the mentality of the players was right and said the partnership goes a long way towards allowing the players to just focus on that aspect of the game.
“Once we are mentally there (we have a chance to win the title). I reckon that is one of the biggest things that we have to focus on to make sure our mentality is in the right place,” Fowler said.