Francis feeling good

After a rewarding, but taxing 2022 for Sunshine Girls head coach Connie Francis, she says that she is hoping that the upcoming England tour will provide the answers she needs regarding the state of her squad with the Netball World Cup on the horizon.

The team left the island on Wednesday in preparation for their three-match series against the “Roses” which begins next week.

Francis is coming off a year where she led the team to their highest-ever finish at the Commonwealth Games last August, earning a silver medal. The campaign also took a mental toll, leading her to consider her future in the role after taking a few weeks to recharge.

Since then, however, she has remained in the job taking charge of the turbulent New Zealand tour, as well as the Netball World Cup Americas Qualifiers using a mostly young core looking to battle to be a part of the final World Cup roster.

Entering the final year of her contract, Francis said that, mentally, the focus is now geared towards their World Cup preparations saying that for her, she is satisfied with how she ended the calendar year and excited for what the team can produce in 2023.

“I ended the year feeling good. I guess leading into the Commonwealth Games there was a lot of anticipation about how well our team would do; the expectation was really high and I think that at times you needed that support and felt that I wasn’t getting it. But I was very happy to see that the team was able to go out there and execute well and get another colour medal,” Francis told The Gleaner.

“The girls are anticipating big things for the World Cup. It’s just to ensure that we play our cards right when it comes to the series against England and how well we give our youngsters the opportunity to go out there to get the fresh international experience that they would need to give them a fair chance to make that cut for the World Cup.”

Francis is cognisant of the challenge they face, noting the preparation advantage that England has entering the tour, as well as building the chemistry with the young players who have impressed in the latter part of 2022 and integrating them into the senior line-up. However, she said that she is confident that the team will display a strong showing, with added responsibility on the senior players to get the young core up to speed.

“It’s not perfect, but it is a work in progress. I know that England are in a better position than us because they have had tournaments together. They are very strong. (But) it is important that in the practices that we have gotten in, we encourage the youngsters to really give their best because it is not only for the Roses series. It is important that we get that chemistry going (for the future also). They are quite anxious and they are happy to be a part of it and I expect them to do their best,” Francis said.

The Sunshine Girls last faced England in a three-match series two years ago when the Rose registered their first series win against Jamaica since 2013, winning 2-1.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com