Howard Walker, Staff Reporter
JAMAICA'S SUNSHINE babes, who were stranded in St. Kitts on Sunday, are expected in the island today.
The Under-16 netballers were due to fly out of the Eastern Caribbean isle on Sunday morning but instead, had to spend at least eight hours at the airport in St. Kitts before the authorities offered them rooms at the Ocean Terrace Hotel after a connecting LIAT flight between St. Kitts and Antigua never materalised.
Team manager Arlene Findlay had expressed uncertainty at that time about when the situation would have been rectified, but when contacted yesterday, she told The Gleaner that they would be leaving for Antigua in a couple of hours. From there, they are due to connect today for a BWIA flight to Jamaica this morning.
"We are supposed to leave tonight for Antigua and hopefully we will be in Jamaica tomorrow (today)," Findlay told The Gleaner yesterday evening in a telephone interview while the team was having dinner.
"We are well taken care of. The Jamaican Consulate in St. Kitts has taken us to this upscale Jamaican-owned restaurant called 'Marsha', where the girls are having lamb, pork and sirloin steak," she boasted.
Despite the ordeal, Findlay said she wanted to assure family members and friends that "the girls are well taken care of and doing well".
The young Sunshine Girls finished second in the Caribbean Netball Association Under-16 Championship after losing to Barbados, the eventual champion, 26-24.
The young girls have the dubious distinction of being the only Jamaican team to lose a game and the eventual championship at the Under-16 level.
The Oberon Pitterson-coached squad, which had finished unbeaten in the five previous tournaments they attended, brushed aside Trinidad and Tobago 30-21, Dominica 37-6 and St. Kitts 31-9.
The dethroned champions got a few consolation prizes though as they were named the best defensive and best attacking team of the tournament. They were also named the best shooting team, while Christina Solomon finished as the highest scoring shooter.
Captain Trishell Williams was named the MVP for the Jamaicans, who finished runners-up with 10 points, two behind unbeaten Barbados.
