BNA President Off to IFNA Meeting

President of the Barbados Netball Association Octavia Gibson has racked up a load of frequent flyer miles this year. From Singapore, Argentina, Manchester and the US, Gibson will now be attending the IFNA board meeting in Manchester, England, from October 17 to 19.

Items on the agenda include final decisions on the dates for the World Youth Netball Champions in Cook Islands in 2009; a showcase of the shortened form of netball by the England team; Commonwealth Games 2010; World Netball Competition, Singapore 2011; appointment of panels and committees and the net effect development programmes.

I am all for the miles but at the end of the day Octavia please champion the region's cause. I do not know what Annette achieved in her time and knowing her, she will probably read this blog the second it has been posted so she can enlighten us, however the region is badly in need of an advocate. We have made little to no progress having Molly Rhone from Jamaica as President of IFNA, if I am wrong then Molly please inform Netball Shots of your accomplishments.

All these ladies are great but the region is calling for results. We have gone backward, our individual world ranking speaks for itself. I was proud to be on the Barbados world championship team Scotland that ranked 6th in the world, Jamaica was 5th. Barbados is now struggling at 11th and only Trinidad and Jamaica are on the radar where world ranking is concerned even St. Vincent is struggling. The region needs a major intervention if netball is going to survive. Not only from the perspective of our world ranking but losing sports find it very hard to attract sponsorship and new players, everyone loves a winner. Netball in the region has to chart a winning course.