Sunshine Girls tune up with triple-play

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

In an effort to intensify their preparations for this year's World Netball Championships (WNC), Jamaica's Sunshine Girls will be staging three simulation games against a 'President's Twelve' team, starting today at the National Indoor Sports Centre at 8 p.m.

Oberon Pitterson, head coach of the Sunshine Girls, said they would be using the matches to test the mental toughness of the players and to see how well they would withstand the pressure of playing three games in three days.

''We certainly want to see what will happen because there are three hard games right at the quarter-finals, which includes the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, and so we are looking to see how well they will do with three hard games back-to-back," said Pitterson.

"Romelda Aiken is here with us and so we are looking to work her in and to also look at all the different combinations, and to prepare for any eventuality that we might face when we get to Singapore," said Pitterson.

Aiken, who is regarded as one of the best goal shooters in the world, has been away from the national team for the past five months, plying her trade in Australia's ANZ Championships.

No major injuries

Pitterson, who recently took over the reins as head coach from Connie Francis, stated that there are no major injury concerns among the players and, therefore, they have been working very hard in training as they look forward to the championships, scheduled for July 3-10.

The Sunshine Girls will enter the championships beaming with confidence, on the back of their 1-1 series draw at home against world champions Australia in January. They followed this up with a 2-1 series win over arch-rivals and number three-ranked England in April.

"The team has got better, based on those performances, and so that is good to know, but we are trying to get them to be consistent, and they have proven in that area and they have been able to make the adjustment really well," Pitterson said.

She continued: "It is just for us to perform on that day, and that day is not even the final on the 10th, but to get past Australia on the ninth (in the semi-finals) and that is the big test."

The Jamaicans, who are ranked fourth in the world, won the bronze in the last tournament, held in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2007.

The 'President's Twelve' team consists of three Sunshine Girls reserves players in Naudia Brown, Tracey-Ann Robinson and Marion Campbell, along with other players from the just-concluded Berger Paints League.

They are former national representatives Elaine Davis, Georgia Gordon and Sabrina Spence, as well as members of the national male netball team.