'We will rise again'

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

Disappointment was etched on almost every face at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay yesterday, as Jamaica's Sunshine Girls returned home from their dismal showing at the 2011 World Netball Championships looking beaten and forlorn.

While skipper Nadine Bryan flatly refused to respond to questions from the media, Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) president Marva Bernard readily admitted that the team, which finished fourth after suffering heavy defeats to champions Australia and third place England, had performed below expectations

"Clearly, our plans did not materialise but we will be having a press conference soon where we will answers all the questions you would like to ask of me," said Bernard. "We are disappointed, yes, but like the phoenix, we will rise again ... we will rise again."

Connie's remarks dismissed

Shown a copy of yesterday's Gleaner in which former coach Connie Francis called for the revamping of the national netball programme and suggested that she would like to see the JNA return to the tactics used in the past, Bernard was quite dismissive.

"I will not respond to anything like that today," said Bernard, as she took an angry glance at the headline which read, 'Revamp netball'. There will be opportune time to discuss all of that ... . Now is not the time for that."

Coach Oberon Pitterson, who was easily the most engaging of the returning contingent, was bitterly disappointed as, according to her, things were going fairly well until they ran into the Australians in the semi-finals.

'Twin towers' failure

"I believe we did a good job leading up to the semi-final, but once we encountered the Australians everything fell apart," said Pitterson. "Our game plan wasn't executed well ... a lot of factors affected what we wanted to achieve ... we struggled a lot in getting the ball to the shooters and, defensively, we allowed the Australians to score easily."

Responding to the 'twin tower' strategy, using Romelda Aiken at goal attack and Jhaniele Fowler at goal shoot, Pitterson said it was something they thought would have unsettled the Australians.

"Both players are a big threat to the Australian team and that was the plan behind playing them together," Pitterson said. "What went wrong was the absence of the centre court support."

In responding to the news that local fans have taken the fourth-place finish very hard, Pitterson said she fully understood the reason for the disappointment.

"We are very disappointed, the entire Jamaica has invested a lot in us," said Pitterson. "I am disappointed and the ladies are disappointed ... when you invest a lot in a team or a player, you expect good results, and when the results don't come you have to be disappointed."