Congratulations to Jamaica, AFNA Champions 2008.It was not the strongest Jamaica team that was ever fielded. In fact one might argue that it is the weakest senior team Jamaica has fielded for a long time, however what was important is that they got the job done. This Jamaica second side was able to dispatch all the teams in the competition which is tell tale to the distance between the "Sunshine Girls" and the rest of the teams in the Americas.
The conductor/director/playmaker for Jamaica clearly was their captain Simone Forbes. Discipline aside or lack thereof, Forbes was in a class of her own in the competition. Yes the team beat St. Lucia without her, but this was the first day of competition and the St. Lucian side was not very strong in this competition.
The game between Trinidad may however been another story without her leadership and cunning. Forbes challenged all the rules in the book. She played the controversial hitting the goal pole with the ball on a throw in and retrieving it herself in nearly every game, which of course made the spectators roar as this play, although legitimate, looks very suspect.
A real positive for Jamaica, they have a number of very talented young players on the way up who should ensure Jamaica's netball dominance in the future. This was evident in the defensive area where the tough young players Tracy Robinson and Nicole Aiken held their own, succeeding in ensuring that their team had the best defensive record of just allowing 169 attempts to the opposition, an average of just 27 goals a game.
Another future bright spark for Jamaica was their 6ft shooter Crystal Gordan who ended 9th overall in shooting average. She scored 103 from 125. Christina Solmon was 8th scoring 66 from 80 and Forbes was 7th netting 91 of 110.
Stats
286 goals for, 126 goals against. 350 attempts for, 169 attempts against, goal difference 160, goal average 2.27. Shooting accuracy 81.71%
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