Sunshine Girls keep one eye on Glasgow

PRESIDENT OF Netball Jamaica Karen Baugh says that the Sunshine Girls’ upcoming four-match Horizon Netball Series against rivals England will serve as a very important measuring stick for the senior national team as they prepare for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

The 2025 series will feature two home matches for Jamaica at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston on December 6 and 7, followed by two away matches at the Copper Box Arena in London, England, on December 13 and 14.

“This series is very important for the coach to gauge the team that she has to work with,” said Baugh.

“Remember, these are senior girls, and you have other players who are vying for selection, so every series that we have [from] now until the Commonwealth Games is important within that structure that the coach will put together.”

She noted that the series will allow the coaching staff to fully assess the players and finalise combinations ahead of next year’s major tournament.

“It will be a good measuring stick in terms of the coach seeing what she has to work with, in terms of the full squad,” she said. “I think we should have another series before the Commonwealth Games, and so we will talk about that another time.”

The Commonwealth Games are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 2, 2026, in Glasgow, Scotland. Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls, who won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, will be looking to go one better this time around.

The Sunshine Girls won the inaugural four-match series between the teams in 2024, 2-1. Game one of that series at the O2 Arena in London ended in a draw before England won game two. However, the Jamaicans bounced back to win games three and four at home to win the series.

The series is expected to be fiercely contested as the Sunshine Girls are ranked third in the world, one place above England.

“I am expecting another exciting series because we won the first series 2-1 against them, and so I am sure they will be coming back for us for this series.

“However, I am confident that whatever team the coach puts out there will do well and maintain our dominance in England,” the president added.

She also pointed out that after the December series, the teams are expected to meet again later in the year.

“Right after that, we have England again, then in 2027, the Netball World Cup. So this is all part of our ongoing preparation and development as we build towards those major competitions.”