The Jamaica’s goal shooter Shimona Nelson in action against Malawi during the Fast5 Netball World Series on Friday night. The Sunshine Girls won that game 31-24.
Netball Jamaica President Dr. Paula Daley-Morris has said that Jamaica’s runner-up finish at the Fast5 Netball World Series in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday shows how resilient Jamaican people, as a whole, can be in times of hardship.
The Sunshine Girls, who were unbeaten on their run to the final, lost 34-29 to rivals England in the game, but had creditable wins against them and New Zealand in the earlier stage of the tournament.
The Jamaica president Daley-Morris praised the Sunshine Girls and their coaches Sasher-Gaye Henry and Marvette Anderson that they did very well, even though they had a little time to prepare themselves for the competition.
Has she expressed herself, “Wow that was just magnificent! For us, it shows what potential we have in these girls and how hard they have worked over the last couple of months just to be able to do Jamaica proud.
She urged the Jamaican people to celebrate with them the victory of second place in the competition and looked back on what we are as a Jamaican. “We are a small island, and every time we take on the world, we do well.”
“It shows younger Jamaicans what’s possible. It shows persons who are in despair how resilient we are as a people. That’s what we are about, making others proud, making Jamaica proud. That’s why we do this,” said Daley-Morris
She added that much more could be achieved by the team, if the association had the funding it needs to develop the sport. She immediately shared her experience with the press “I sat there and I’m like, ‘Wow! What a lot of potential! If only we had the money.’ That’s all that kept going through my mind – ‘if only we had the money’,” she said.
Daley-Morris said that the association had been preparing Henry for coaching for a number of years, and it has begun to pay off. Henry had been a Sunshine Girl herself, until her retirement from playing two years ago.
She added “We congratulate her and Marvette Anderson, another person whom we have invested a lot in and have trained to perform in this way. We’re happy for both coaches.”
However they looked back on their achievements as the runner-up finish equals Jamaica’s best-ever placing in an international tournament, as they also finished second at the World FastNet tournament in England in 2009.