Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Jamaica's Paula Thompson (left) reaches for the ball as it is intercepted by New Zealand's Liana Barrett-Chase as Nadine Bryan takes evasive action in their second Test at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Thursday, October 22.
Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer
Connie Francis, head coach of Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, said they are on the brink of becoming world-beaters in netball.
"I think that we are at the turning point of our netball now, but I just hope that we can really keep it up and keep playing consistently," said Francis, who has represented the Sunshine Girls at five World Championships.
"We just have to keep the focus because what we found during the series against New Zealand and Australia is that the girls were believing in themselves and they were very determined to win," Francis said.
The coach added that one of the biggest problems that her team faces is lack of international practice games, which she said has affected their preparations for world tournaments.
"One of the problems that we have had in Jamaica is that we are always in the practice mode, while the other top teams in the world are always in the competition mode because they have their professional league to play in," she said.
Confident
The Sunshine Girls finished fourth at the last Commonwealth Games, which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2006. Now, Francis is confident her charges can surpass the top teams in the world.
"I believe that we are right up there with the top teams in the world because the girls have proven this and they are determined to do well for their country," she said.
The next big test comes at next year's Commonwealth Games, in India, where all the superpowers in world netball will be participating.
"I think we stand a good chance of winning the Commonwealth Games because I think it is about time we make that move up in the rankings."
Reflecting on her team's performances against Australia and New Zealand in their recent drawn two-match series, Francis admitted they are still trying out different combinations and she will be looking to add more players to the team.
"We keeping getting better throughout our preparations but this is still a very young team. However, we are going to look forward at getting better. We would also be looking to develop some more of our players," said Francis.
Good coaching staff
After beating New Zealand 53-50 in the second Test to level the series, Francis said: "I must dedicate this victory to our coaching staff because we realised that our girls were lacking in a lot of areas, especially in strength and conditioning and I thought that we challenged that area and it shows that we were the better team today."
She also reasoned that there is still a lot of work to be done because there is need to develop a strong bench to make sure that when a substitution is made, the person going into the game can do the same job the other player was doing.
"We still have a lot of growth and this is just the starting point of where Jamaica's netball can go," said Francis.
"We are not going to get overconfident because we know that this is capable of coming back at us," she concluded.
André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter
A silver-medal performance at the inaugural World Netball Series, followed by historic wins over global power-houses Australia and New Zealand at the recently concluded National Commercial Bank (NCB) Sunshine Series, have put Jamaica's netball programme into sharp focus.
Packed stands and unprecedented media attention were staples of the NCB Sunshine Series and also signalled that the world number four-ranked team was finally beginning to gain the recognition they have fought so hard for over the years. Jamaica's netball was truly in the spotlight and the team delivered in no uncertain terms.
The Connie Francis-coached Sunshine Girls surrendered first-game losses to both visitors before rallying in determined fashion to clinch the deciding games and level both series 1-1, in the process closing their international season on a high note.
Against Australia, the team lost 51-53 in the first game before returning to clinch a hard-fought 56-55 nail-biter. In their games against New Zealand's Silver Ferns, the locals went down to a 56-61 loss, but rebounded 53-50 in the final game to send shock waves through at the netball world.
Excited
Marva Bernard, president of the Jamaica Netball Association, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, could hardly contain her excitement and pride following the recent string of accomplishments and underlined the importance of impressing local fans.
"This is a very proud moment in the country's netball history. We have showed that we can compete with and beat the very best in the netball world, and after our success in England with the World Netball Series, it was important for the girls and the programme that we showed our quality here in front of our home fans," Bernard pointed out.
"The girls knew how important this was for the continuity of the programme and they determined to themselves that they were not going to lose the series and I must congratulate them for a job well done. We are all very proud of them."
Serious contenders
Besides raising the prestige of the sport among local fans, the performances now mean the team is now considered serious contenders for top honours in the sport, starting with next year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India.
Australia coach Norma Plummer and her New Zealand counterpart Ruth Aitken both agree that the Jamaicans have closed the gap and should now be considered a real threat to their everlasting domination of the sport.
Francis, in the meantime, has credited her team's ascension to a new approach toward games and a more dynamic training and preparation process.
"It's different because we have changed our preparation. We have a gym and a trainer and I think the strength and conditioning worked for us," said Francis. "It helped the girls to focus more ... . They were able to execute against all the tactical skills that were thrown at them."
She added: "The girls work hard in training and they sacrifice a whole lot so they deserve all the attention they are getting now for their efforts. I am very proud of every one of them. This series has showed us a lot.
"We are very confident every time we go out on the court but we are now even more confident of our abilities and we will continue to work hard to keep getting better," Francis added.