Bryan's eyes on big prize

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Newly appointed captain of Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, Nadine Bryan, said she is ready to lead her country to the gold medal at this year's World Netball Championships (WNC), which will be held in Singapore from July 3-10.

Bryan, who will have Sasher-Gaye Henry as her deputy, told The Gleaner in an interview, following the announcement of Jamaica's 12-member squad yesterday, that she is very happy for the opportunity to lead the Sunshine Girls to netball's most prestigious event.

"I am very excited and very honoured to be leading this squad to the World Netball Championships in Singapore," said the 34-year-old.

"I really do think that we can win this World Championships," she said, following a press briefing which was held at the netball lodge in Barbican.

She added: "We have played against Australia and England this year and we did really well against them. We defeated England and drew our series against the Australians."

The Sunshine Girls team, a good mix of youth and experience, has retained six members of the squad which won bronze at the last World Championships, in New Zealand in 2007. They are Nicole Aiken, Althea Byfield, Romelda Aiken, Paula Thompson, Bryan and Henry.

Jhaniele Fowler, Anna-Kay Griffths, Kimone Tulloch, Kameika Sherwood and Malysha Kelly will be making the trip to the tournament for the first time.

Putting in hard work

Bryan, who will be making her third straight appearance at the championships, noted that the team has worked very hard in training to improve their all-round abilities on the court.

"We know that to be number one, it is going to take a lot of hard work, but we are going to be putting everything into making this happen," she said.

Bryan also gave a lot of credit to Australian technical director Jill McIntosh for her help in changing the culture of the team.

"Our entire style has changed and we are doing things differently now," Bryan said. "We therefore expect different results when we get to the World Championships in Singapore, as the entire team has bought into this goal that Jill has instilled in us, and I think that if we want different results, then we have to do things differently. She came in and a lot of things have changed and we do really appreciate it."

The netballers are scheduled to leave on June 26 for the championships.