Bajan Girls Showed Fight Against England - Strategic Plan Necessary

President of BNA Juanita Cordle making a point a last year's
U 16 Tournament in St. Kitts

According to Netball Planet Barbados made England work for their  five goal victory in the second test of their recent tour of England.  Not bad for the 11th Place team in the world versus the 3rd place.  Barbados has always had the talent and Anna Shepherd has my support as coach because she has been able to take Barbados (and Antigua) the highest placing in the world ranking of any senior coach we have ever had.  Her instincts are good, and as part of her decorated 1987 Scotland World Champion team and having played under Shepherd for a number of years, she is one of the few coaches in Barbados that doesn't pigeonhole players.

Of course England would have taken this scoreline very hard and the final game 71-42 defeat over Barbados came as no surprise being an old hand at the psychology of the game.  Barbados also is not fit enough physically nor mentally to take on the kind of assault that would have come from England's bruised egos.  The game would have however been a good learning experience for the team demonstrating how far they have to go.  The ability to raise their game despite injury both mental and physical and the resolve to dig deep down and proclaim that you are the best and play like it.  The difference at this level is fitness, strategy and belief.

With the foundation for a sound coaching team in place, Barbados needs to have a strategic plan for netball if we are to stop moving in a vicious unproductive circle.  President Juanita Cordle has to layout a strategic plan to take netball in Barbados forward.  Everyone loves a winner.  The Association must go after small victories to achieve the greater ones.  Netball Shots will be watching on closely and will give the Association its full support.

Jamaica Snubbing CNA U16 Again

The Gleaner newspaper report below by Robert Bailey tells the tale of Jamaica yet again not attending the Caribbean Netball Association's U16 Jean Pierre Tournament for the second straight year.  Jamaica did not attend last year's tournament in the beautiful island of St.Kitts contrary to the inaccuracy of the report, St. Lucia are the current champions.

It seems like the Junior team is now going down the same road that the senior team did years ago.  They were compelled to play AFNA and CNA Tournaments to qualify for the world games.  Of course the rationale is that the region is not good enough.  Jamaica does not see itself playing a role in helping to develop the region but yet it wants our vote in the boardroom.

On Sunday while teaching the Event Planning Module of the Olympic Academy's Sports Management Course, I was asked how come the region has not benefited from having a Jamaican president at the helm of the International Federation of Netball Associations for the last umpteen years.  Any right thinking individual can work this out.  

This story of self interest however tells the tale well.  Also reflect on the condescending tone of the President as she refers to, and disassociates Jamaica from, the Caribbean Netball Association of which they are members.  So much for integration, one Caribbean, mumbo jumbo.

....

"JAMAICA will not be participating in the Caribbean Netball Association Under-16 championships this year, choosing instead to battle their England counterparts in a three-match series, which will be held in Birmingham next month.

"Birmingham is sponsoring most of the players and so we can't turn that down, and, therefore we have decide not to participate in the Caribbean junior tournament for this year," Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) president Marva Bernard told The Gleaner in an interview yesterday.

"These people in the Caribbean took long to tell us the date of the cham-pionships, and when they did we had already made our plans to go to Birmingham," she said.

Jamaica has been dominating the Caribbean junior tournaments overs the years and have won the last three stagings. This year's tournament will be held in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Minnett Reynolds-coached Jamaicans are scheduled to oppose their Birmingham counterparts on April 12 and April 13. The junior Sunshine Girls will play their final game against their English counterparts on April 15.

"Every year we go to the Caribbean Under-16 Tournament, but this year we accepted the invitation to go to Birmingham, so as to give the girls a chance to see a different style of play," said Bernard.

"We also are going to be playing against England's under-17 team and so this will be good match practice for them, rather than just going to the Caribbean Championships every year," Bernard added. "We will also be looking to see which one of them will make the transition to our national Under-21 programme."