Tough challenge ahead for Sunshine Girls in Fast5 tournament
Published:Tuesday | October 17, 2023 | 12:10 AM
NETBALL Jamaica has announced a 10-member team that will represent the country at the upcoming Fast5 tournament scheduled for November 11- 12 in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The Sunshine Girls have been runners-up at the tournament on three occasions (2009, 2017, 2018) and third on two occasions (2010, 2013). According to coach Shawn Murdock, the tournament is expected to be challenging, especially with Jamaica’s young squad.
“It’s going to be challenging as we’re using mainly our younger players. The positive side of it is that we’re looking at a pathway for development as our elite programme isn’t as robust as our main competitors around the world. So this is an opportunity to give our ladies that experience as we continue to create avenues for development,” he stated.
The team will be led by Romelda Aiken-George, with Adean Thomas as vice-captain. The duo will be accompanied by Gezelle Allison, Theresa Beckford, Amanda Pinkney, Crystal Plummer, Kimone Shaw, Abigail Sutherland, Abbeygail Linton, and England-born Rhea Dixon.
According to Murdock, only three players in this current set up participated in the Netball World Cup earlier this year in Cape Town, South Africa, where the Sunshine Girls finished third.
“We’re only taking three players who were part of the Netball World Cup squad in Aiken-George, Thomas, and Plummer. We also have the inclusion of Dixon from the United Kingdom, who is a new ingredient to the pot,” he added.
Dixon, who is of Jamaican heritage, qualifies to represent the country through her grandmother, who is a Jamaican. The 25-year-old, who represented England at the under-21 level, can play at the goal attack, wing attack, and goal shooter positions. Murdock shared that based on what he and coach Nicole Aiken-Pinnock have seen so far, Dixon looks in great shape ahead of the upcoming tournament.
“She had expressed an interest in representing the country for some time now. The last thing we asked of her was a fitness test, which she recorded and sent back to us, and she smashed what we were looking for in terms of the ceiling, so that’s good,” he added.
With less than a month before the start of the tournament, Murdock explained that the team is currently fine-tuning their fitness and are building team cohesiveness, which he believes is essential for success in New Zealand.
“We have been giving the ladies some fitness tests each week, and they’re getting better, so we’re pushing on with our preparations. We’re making use of what we have, and what we’re focusing on is making sure the ladies have the right synergy and chemistry as the Fast5 is a different version of the game and it requires different strategies,” he explained.