Big gap between netball games at NISC explained
Published:Sunday | January 26, 2025 | 12:09 AMAudley Boyd/News Editor
Anxious to get a bucket deal watching back-to-back matches, a commonly asked question among spectators watching the senior Sunshine Girls and South Africa’s SPAR Proteas is why is there such a big gap in time for the playing of the accompanying Under-21 matches.
The matches which are being played at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC), have, on average, been separated by a minimum three hours, with the junior contests starting around 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Tonight marks the third and final round of games and it will be no different, with the juniors slated to take the court at 3 p.m. and either of the senior Sunshine Girls and SPAR Proteas making first pass at 6 p.m.
It all boils down to standardised procedures for international competition, aligned with the limitations of the facility and its only one court.
“Because of the fact that it’s an international game between South Africa and the Sunshine Girls, the countries get rankings points based on that, so we have to go by the stipulated rules by Word Netball,” noted Dwayne Gutzmer, chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series.
He explained that the senior teams would generally arrive an hour and a half before game time, and utilise that period to do their warmups on and off court, fingernail checks and huddle, among other things, during that period.
ROUTINE
The match officials also have their routine.
“The umpires have to check the court, make sure that it is up to standard, make sure that the poles are the specific and required height,” Gutzmer shared. “A number of checks and due diligence happen in between that period of the hour and a half to ensure that everything happens based on international standards.
“So that break is necessary for those particular reasons. If it wasn’t an international game … then we could have those nice doubleheaders as persons have been asking,” he said.
“The venue that we have is what we have to work with because maybe if there was another court then some things could be happening simultaneously, but the space that we have affords us what we are working with here,” Gutzmer added, pointing to warmups especially.
PURCHASING TICKETS
That apart, both Gutzmer and Netball Jamaica’s President Tricia Robinson expressed satisfaction with the support throughout the series, and reminded patrons to purchase their tickets utilising only two options.
“Tickets are sold at two places, on Netball Jamaica’s site www.nj.quapid.com and at the ticket bus at the venue,” Robinson said.
Sharing that “logistically it has been good”, Gutzmer noted that patrons have been “very cooperative”, even while noting the pressures brought on by game-time rush.
Highlighting their preparedness, he said: “We know the time frames that people are likely to come in droves; if the game starts at 7:00 people are coming 10, 15 minutes to game time they expect to be inside at 7:00,” he stated. “And so we know that those are the rush times and we try to make sure that the security officers, the people who are doing the scanning at the gate are mindful of those time frames and so we try to get patrons inside the venue as quickly as possible that they don’t miss any of the action.
“Once they’re inside, then you know that our girls will take care of them because it’s just excitement, excitement and great plays until the very end.”