‘We are not shying away’

Netball Jamaica President Karen Rosen Baugh says the Sunshine Girls are embracing a transitional phase and are not afraid of losing as they prepare for next month’s three-Test series against hosts Australia, with several of the nation’s star players unavailable for the assignment.

The first game will be played on February 5 in Adelaide, the second match is scheduled for three days later in Perth, while the third game will be contested in Melbourne on the 11th.

The Sunshine Girls will be without captain Jhaniele Fowler, Shamera Sterling, Romelda Aiken, Jodi-Ann Ward, Adean Thomas, and Shimona Nelson for the highly anticipated series. Except for Thomas, the other players, who ply their trade in Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball League, also missed Jamaica’s two-match Vitality Test series against England in December.

However, the squad has been strengthened by the return of defenders Latanya Wilson and Kadie-Ann Dehaney, who are both based in Australia and will link up with the team there after also missing the England series for various reasons.

FOCUS

Rosen Baugh said while the absence of senior players naturally raises questions, the focus remains on the players who will be taking to the court against Australia and gaining valuable international experience.

“We don’t want to focus on the absence of these players because we want to focus on the players who will be taking the court in Australia. They are all Sunshine Girls, but people are going to have questions when some senior players are still missing,” said Rosen Baugh.

She added that the team is determined to remain competitive, even if results do not always go their way during this rebuilding phase.

“We are not afraid to lose if that is the case. We are going there to try and win and to play to the best of our ability. We feel that we do have some additional strength, especially at the defensive end and in the middle, which is different from what we had for the Horizon Series against England. So the results will be the results and we will deal with them,” she said.

Rosen Baugh added that with major upcoming tournaments, including the Commonwealth Games later this year and the Netball World Cup next year, these are key targets driving the team’s long-term development.

“We are going there to put out the best performance that we can, and if it means winning or drawing a game, or if we end up losing, we will come back and put in the work,” she said. “Obviously, losing affects your rankings, but we are working towards the big tournaments.”

IMPORTANCE OF GAINING INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

Rosen Baugh also stressed the importance of building depth within the national programme, stating that opportunities must be created for emerging players to gain experience at the international level.

“We have to work with the players that we have and wherever life takes them we are here to support them. We have assembled this team, including Nicole Dixon, who was out for a year after having her first child, and we also have back in the squad Latanya Wilson and Kadie Dehaney,” she added.

“People will say that this is a weak team and we know who our senior shooters are, but sometimes teams go through periods where you have to manage the players that you have. Players are going to be in and out of the pool for various reasons, so we have to keep refreshing our pool and build our players because the only way for them to get experience is to get out there on the court,” Rosen Baugh said.

She pointed out that Netball Jamaica remains committed to fielding competitive teams while steadily developing the next generation of Sunshine Girls.

“We are not shying away from any competition because of the squad that we have, because we feel that our responsibility is to build depth, and you can’t build depth off the court,” she said.

SUNSHINE GIRLS SQUAD

Shanice Beckford (captain), Khadijah Williams, Roxonna McClean, Kimone Shaw, Kadie-Ann Dehaney, Latanya Wilson, Crystal Plummer, Abigale Sutherland Nicole Dixon Rochester, Simone Gordon, Gezelle Allison and Kestina Sturridge