Hall lauds inclusion of Under-21 trio

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

High performance director of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA), Maureen Hall, said the move by the national selectors to include three Under-21 players to the Sunshine Girls team for the World FastNet Championships later this month is a step in the right direction.

The World FastNet Championships will be held in Liverpool, England, November 25-27 and will feature the six top teams in the world.

Hall told The Gleaner yesterday that the JNA has selected the best players available for the championships, and she was confident that young players Deneen Taylor, Vangelee Williams and Dhanyel Johnson would give a good account of themselves.

"The Under-21 players are pretty inexperienced. However, we are giving them an opportunity to go to the tournament and, hopefully, gain some experience by their participation," said Hall, a former senior team coach. "Ultimately, they will serve Jamaica well in the future," she said.

players enthusiastic

Hall, who is also a convener of the national selection committee, added: "I think the players are enthusiastic and I think that they understand clearly that our success will be based on teamwork. We will work with the strengths and we will minimise the weaknesses, and if we can do that well then we can give a good account of ourselves."

The Sunshine Girls team, which will be captained by veteran player Nadine Bryan, also includes five members of the team that participated in the World Netball Championships (WNC) in Singapore earlier this year.

They are shooters Jhaniele Fowler, Ann-Kay Griffiths and Jodi-Ann Ffrench-Kentish, along with Kimone Tulloch and Malysha Kelly. Vanessa Walker and Tracey-Ann Robinson, two players who did not make the trip to WNC, have also been named.

The Sunshine Girls finished third at the last championships, which was held in Manchester, England, and Hall stated that it was going to be difficult to surpass the top teams in the world at the championships.

"I heard that New Zealand is sending their strongest team, and so it is going to very difficult to compete against the top three," Hall said. "We haven't heard out of Australia what they are doing and we know that England will be well represented.

"However, I can assure you that we are going there to give a good account of ourselves and come back to Jamaica nowhere worse than we are in the world," Hall reasoned.

The team will be accompanied by JNA president Marva Bernard, coach Oberon Pitterson, assistant coach Annett Daley, team manager Andrea Anthony, Dr Primainand Singh, and video analyst Antoinette Irons.