Young Sunshine Girls locked and loaded
Published:Sunday | September 21, 2025 | 12:10 AMLivingston Scott - Gleaner Writer
JAMAICA’S UNDER-21 netball coach Annette Daley said the young Sunshine Girls are ready and eager for their first game against Tonga at the under-21 World Cup today in Gibraltar.
Daley noted that the number-nine ranked Tonga are a strong team but that the Jamaican girls have prepared well and are raring to get into the action.
“The girls have settled in nicely. You know the time zone difference and that caused a little sleeping issue initially.
“But they are now sleeping better. They have adapted, though not fully, because it takes a little time. But they are adapting,” she said.
“We are feeling pretty good going into our first match. We play Tonga. We are ready. Tonga is a pretty strong team and, as a result, we are taking them seriously and taking it a game at a time.
“But we will just give of our best. It’s competition and they really want to get started to see how they deal with it.”
Jamaica had a rest day on Saturday’s opening day and Daley used the opportunity to scout and analyse some of the other teams.
“We took the day, because the matches started and we had a bye for today (Saturday). So we watched a few matches and did some game analysis. It’s different styles from ours and we want to see how people adapt to it.
“We just want to stick to our structures, work with the situations we have, and just work hard, because we want to do well. But the level of work that they are putting in is pretty good and they should do well,” she continued.
Jamaica also have England, Sri Lanka and Wales in pool C, with the top two teams to advance from the group and Daley.
Getting into that top two, Daley said, will take a game-by-game approach.
“We are also looking for Jamaica’s support. Even though the Jamaican public is not here with us, once we know they are watching, we will be grateful,” she added.