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Excitement around Americas World Cup qualifiers rises

Published:Sunday | October 9, 2022 | 12:11 AMOrane Buchanan - Staff Reporter
Bernard
Bernard

Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls get to dancing in celebration after topping Pool A by beating Australia on day seven of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at NEC Arena in Birmingham, England, on August 4.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls get to dancing in celebration after topping Pool A by beating Australia on day seven of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at NEC Arena in Birmingham, England, on August 4.
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MARVA BERNARD, president of Americas Netball, is happy for the excitement that is already buzzing as the tip-off date of the Americas Netball World Cup qualifiers draws near.

“There’s a fever pitch right now, and we’re making sure that we tick off all the boxes and ensure that everything will be ready for us to begin on the 16th,” said Bernard.

The National Indoor Sports Centre in St Andrew, Jamaica, will play host to the tournament where the best nine countries around the region will converge, vying for two spots at the blue-riband event, The Netball World Cup, in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2023.

Host nation Jamaica, who have already qualified, are expected to lock horns with the likes of Barbados, the United States, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, and Cayman Islands in what is expected to be a competitive round-robin tournament.

Jamaica, no stranger to hosting tournaments of this magnitude, hosted the World Netball Championships back in 2003. This, according to Bernard, has prepared the team for the administrative and logistic tremors likely to shake hosts.

“Jamaica has a reputation of hosting successful sporting events. One of the most successful World Netball Championships in its time was the 2003 version, which was held in Jamaica. Our head of the LOC (Local Organising Committee), Dwayne Gutzmer, is pulling all the youth, wisdom and experience together to make this happen. The government support is there, which is maximum, and we could do nothing without them and Minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, who is our patron,” she said.

The tournament will also provide the history-making Sunshine Girls the opportunity to play in front of their home fans for the first time since they won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, which Bernard sees as a very good opportunity to build on their ever-growing fan base.

“This is very important for the Jamaica team to be seen at home. There’s no point in sponsors investing money in a product that is only seen overseas. Especially with the performance of the team at the Commonwealth Games and the Jamaica public becoming more aware of the potential and ability of this team,” added Bernard.

Bernard is also of the belief that there will be no shortage of competitiveness because Jamaica always brings out the best in competing teams.

“We expect fierce competition from them (eight teams). Whenever they come to play against Jamaica, they always bring their ‘A’ game, which is good for competition, as competition is always at the heart of sports. We expect the games to be competitive, so it’s serious business. Everybody wants to perform at their peak, because they want to go to Cape Town, and only two can go,” said Bernard.

orane.buchanan@gleanerjm.com