Jamaica national netball team

The Jamaica national netball team, commonly known as the Sunshine Girls, represent Jamaica in international netball competition. Netball is not only the number one women's sport in Jamaica but also the number one team sport in the island, based on World Rankings and recent history and the majority of the schools in Jamaica participate.[1] Netball receives full media coverage on television, radio and in newspapers but does not get as much coverage as less successful team sports such as football and cricket.[2] Jamaica were coached by former representative Oberon Pitterson, and captained by midcourt veteran Nadine Bryan up to the end of 2013. However, a Technical Director (Jill McIntosh) and new coach (Minneth Reynolds), were appointed in early 2014. As of 1 July 2020, Jamaica are fourth in the INF World Rankings.[3] While the senior Jamaican netball team is widely known as the Sunshine Girls, the Jamaican Fast 5 netball team is known as Jamaica Fast5 or the FAST5 Girls.[4][5][6][7][8]

Jamaica
Nickname(s)Sunshine Girls
AssociationNetball Jamaica
ConfederationAFNA (Americas)
Head coachMarvette Anderson
Sasher-Gaye Henry
CaptainJhaniele Fowler-Reid
Vice-captainPaula Thompson
Most capsNadine Bryan (159)
INF ranking4
Team colours
Alternate
World Championships
Appearances15 (Debuted in 1963)
2019 placing5th
Best result3rd (1991, 2003, 2007)
Commonwealth Games
Appearances6 (Debuted in 1998)
2018 placing3rd
Best result3rd (2002, 2014, 2018)

History

The playing of Netball in Jamaican schools started in 1909. In 1959, the Jamaica Netball Association was formed and affiliated with the West Indies Netball Board. A team representing Jamaica was invited to compete at the West Indies Tournament held in August that year in Montserrat.[9]

Since their first international game in 1959, the Sunshine Girls have participated in every World Netball Championships, finishing no lower than sixth. Jamaica placed third in three World Championships – in 1991, 2003 and 2007.[1] They have played in all six Commonwealth Games netball events to date, winning a bronze medal in 2002 in Manchester, 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland and 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia.

Pitterson was appointed the new head coach for the Sunshine Girls at the 2011 World Netball Championships in Singapore.[10] Longstanding captain Simone Forbes did not attend the World Championships after testing positive the banned substance Clomiphene and was replaced by Nadine Bryan.[11][12] Forbes subsequently retired, ending her illustrious career.[13][14][15][16][17] After failing to medal in 2011, some of the experienced players on the squad decided to take a break from the national team, while Althea Byfield chose to retire, as they had grown disgruntled with embattled coach Pitterson.[15][18][19][20][21] Malysha Kelly & Romelda Aiken took over co-captaining duties at the 2013 Fast5 tournament and Kelly continued to captain the team in the first half of 2014.[22][23][24][25] Nicole Aiken-Pinnock took over as captain ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and also captained them at the 2015 Netball World Cup.[26][27] The team has since won bronze medals in both the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, with the latter medal having been won against two-time gold medallists New Zealand.

Players

Current squad

The current squad was selected for the 2019 Netball World Cup.[28][29]

Jamaica national netball team roster
PlayersCoaches
NamePosDOBHeightClubNatCaps
Jhaniele Fowler (c) GS 21/07/1989 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) West Coast Fever
Romelda Aiken GS 19/11/1988 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Queensland Firebirds
Shimona Nelson GS 01/12/1998 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Collingwood Magpies
Nicole Dixon WA, C 03/02/1995 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Shanice Beckford GA, WA 16/04/1995 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Khadijah Williams WA, C 29/12/1994 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Adean Thomas C, WA, WD 31/07/1994 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Jodi-Ann Ward WD, GD 01/09/1994 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Vangelee Williams GD, WD 26/05/1992 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Stacian Facey GK, GD 09/08/1993 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Kadie-Ann Dehaney GK, GD 04/09/1996 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Melbourne Vixens
Shamera Sterling GK, GD 21/10/1995 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Adelaide Thunderbirds
Head coach
  • Marvette Anderson


Notes
  • (c) – Captain
  • (cc) – Co-captain
  • (vc) – Vice-captain
  • – Injury / maternity leave
  • (TRP) – Temporary Replacement Player
Player profiles: Team website Last updated: 22/05/2019

Notable past players

Most-capped Jamaican netballers
Name Test Caps Test Team Years
Nadine Bryan159[30][31][32]1996–2014
Oberon Pitterson120+1988–2006
Connie Francis120+1985–1999, 2003
Georgia Gordon1101994–2005, 2010
Simone Forbes1022000–2011
Elaine Davis91[33]1995–2007[33]
Nichala Gibson792000–2009
Kasey Evering782002–2011, 2012, 2014
Nicole Aiken-Pinnock782005–2011, 2014–present
Sasher-Gaye Henry751996–1997, 2006–2011, 2014–2015[34][35][36]
Romelda Aiken742005–present

Competitive history
Netball World Cup
Year Championship Location Placing
19631st World ChampionshipsEastbourne, England 5th
19672nd World ChampionshipsPerth, Australia 6th
19713rd World ChampionshipsKingston, Jamaica 4th
19754th World ChampionshipsAuckland, New Zealand 5th
19795th World ChampionshipsPort of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago 5th
19836th World ChampionshipsSingapore 5th
19877th World ChampionshipsGlasgow, Scotland 5th
19918th World ChampionshipsSydney, Australia 3rd
19959th World ChampionshipsBirmingham, England 5th
199910th World ChampionshipsChristchurch, New Zealand 4th
200311th World ChampionshipsKingston, Jamaica 3rd
200712th World ChampionshipsAuckland, New Zealand 3rd
201113th World ChampionshipsSingapore 4th
201514th World CupSydney, Australia 4th
201915th World CupLiverpool, England 5th
Netball at the Commonwealth Games
Year Games Event Location Placing
1998XVI Games1st NetballKuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th
2002XVII Games2nd NetballManchester, England 3rd
2006XVIII Games3rd NetballMelbourne, Australia 4th
2010XIX Games4th NetballDelhi, India 4th
2014XX Games5th NetballGlasgow, Scotland 3rd
2018XXI Games6th NetballGold Coast, Australia 3rd
Fast5 World Netball Series (formerly Fastnet)
Year Tournament Location Placing
20091st World SeriesManchester, England 2nd
20102nd World SeriesLiverpool, England 3rd
20113rd World SeriesLiverpool, England 4th
20124th World SeriesAuckland, New Zealand 4th
20135th World SeriesAuckland, New Zealand 3rd
20146th World SeriesAuckland, New Zealand 4th
20167th World SeriesMelbourne, Australia 5th
20178th World SeriesMelbourne, Australia 2nd

Kit suppliers

Jamaica's kits are currently supplied by Gilbert.

See also

References
  1. "Rules of the Sun - TRUE". True.
  2. "Netball and field hockey". Jamaicans.com. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  3. "Current World Rankings". International Netball Federation.
  4. "Netball Jamaica - Upcoming Events FAST5 Netball World Series". mynetballjamaica.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014.
  5. 2014 Jamaica Fast5 - Coach Preview. YouTube. 5 November 2014.
  6. "Sunshine Girls aim to replicate medal finish". jamaica-gleaner.com.
  7. "Netball Jamaica - Heartbreaking win and loss at Fast5". mynetballjamaica.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014.
  8. "Netball Jamaica - From dismal start to a blazing finish". mynetballjamaica.com. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014.
  9. Jamaica Netball Association. "The Origins of Netball". Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  10. Bailey, Robert (12 May 2011). "Pitterson, Daley the WNC coaches for Sunshine Girls". The Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  11. Bogle, Dania (30 May 2011). "Forbes says she'll never stop loving the game". The Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  12. "Bryan named captain of Sunshine Girls - Sport". Jamaica Observer.
  13. "Forbes Retires From The Sunshine Girls - RJR News - Jamaican News Online". rjrnewsonline.com.
  14. "The many sides of Simone Forbes". jamaica-gleaner.com.
  15. "Byfield only casualty of WNC disaster - Sport - Jamaica Observer Mobile". jamaicaobserver.com.
  16. "Simone Forbes picks up 3-month ban - Sport". Jamaica Observer.
  17. "Topic: Former netball captain Simone Forbes banned - Netball Scoop". netballscoop.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  18. "Exodus Of Senior Netballers Hurting The Sport - RJR News - Jamaican News Online". rjrnewsonline.com.
  19. "Sports Jamaica:: End Of The Road?... Senior Netballers Reportedly Considering Retirement :: Netball". sportsjamaica.com.
  20. "Sunshine Girls targeting gold at Commonweath Games". jamaica-gleaner.com.
  21. "Topic: JAMAICA COMM GAMES TEAM 2014 - Netball Scoop". netballscoop.com. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014.
  22. Jamaica Star Online. "Aiken, Fowler head strong FAST5 squad - Sport - Jamaica Star - October 1, 2013". jamaica-star.com. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  23. "Aiken, Kelly Lead Sunshine Girls Into Fast5 World Series - RJR News - Jamaican News Online". rjrnewsonline.com.
  24. "Netball Weekly Round Up 10th January 2014". netball.org. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  25. "Sunshine Girls off to Fast5 Champs". jamaica-gleaner.com.
  26. "Jamaica's Netball World Cup Team 2015 - Sport". Jamaica Observer.
  27. "Jamaica's Netball World Cup Team 2015 - Netball". Jamaica Observer.
  28. "Jamaica World Cup Team Announcement". Netball Scoop. 22 May 2019.
  29. "Netball World Cup 2019: Squad lists for the 16 teams going to the tournament in Liverpool". BBC Sport. 25 May 2019.
  30. "Sunshine Girls brace for high-riding England - Sport". Jamaica Observer.
  31. "Sunshine century! Bryan delighted with 100th international cap". jamaica-gleaner.com.
  32. "Topic: Centurions still playing - Netball Scoop". netballscoop.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  33. "Elaine Davis To Take A Break From Netball - RJR News - Jamaican News Online". rjrnewsonline.com.
  34. "Henry thanks sponsor JN, plans retirement". jamaica-gleaner.com.
  35. "Henry thanks JN, plans retirement". Community Forum.
  36. "Henry thanks JN, plans retirement news". Newsunited.com.
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