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Jamaica pushing to strengthen chances
September 23, 2025
Jamaica's Under-21 Sunshine Girls are looking to make consistent improvements in their challenge for championship honours at the Under-21 Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar.
The Jamaicans got their campaign off to a winning start, defeating Tonga 66-43 on Sunday and coach Annette Daley is expecting the team to continue progressing and get better. Twenty teams were scheduled to participate in four groups of five in the preliminary stage, with Jamaica drawn in Pool C alongside Tonga, Wales, England and Sri Lanka.
However, Sri Lanka and Zambia who were drawn in Pool A, were both withdrawn from the tournament for what the sport's international governing body, World Netball, described as "unresolved issues". As a result, each team in their group will be awarded two points for their fixture.
The top two teams from each group will advance from the preliminaries to play for positions 1-8, leading up to Sunday's final. Countries outside the top two in the group stage will play for the other minor positions.
UPCOMING MATCHES
Jamaica's team will get another chance to strengthen their play as they go in search of their second win, when they face Wales in their second match at 5 this morning. This match will be followed by what is expected to be a tougher fixture, when they go up against England, on Wednesday at 5 a.m.
Daley noted that no game in their group will be easy, but said once they get the basics right, play in the moment and execute what they have been doing in training, she expects a win.
"Wales have a typical European style of play and structure similar to England. They have a similar structure to what Tonga would have brought as well," Daley compared.
"How we counteract these styles of play and how do we stick with our style among that style, is something that we have been practising."
"In our group every match is going to be a difficult one. So we really have to do the basic things well," she said.
"We are stressing executing the basic things well. And if they execute basic then the other strategies and structure will fall in place."
CRUCIAL PERIODS
The Jamaica coach also emphasised that playing in the moment will be crucial.
"The girls are doing well and we just want them to stay in the moment and that is what we are working on with them on. At the time, stay in at the time, do not think of what has gone. Just staying present, that is important," she emphasised.
"If they put it together we are seeing a win. We are not entering over confident. We are respecting the opposition, but we are not giving them too much respect. We are approaching it to say we do have the skill sets and we have the ability to win it, and we have to speak that we cannot just think it. So we have to enter with the confidence to say that 'yes, we are going into this one for the win'."
Although pleased with the team's output against Tonga, Daley believes they can get better, and said they are working to achieve their best level during the tournament.
"I am happy with that (performance). Can it be better, of course. It is not 100 per cent, and once it is not 100 per cent we will be aiming for that," Daley stated.
"Once you are in a competition you know you are going to be looking at the areas that you need to strengthen or areas you really need to brush up on.
"So it is just the progressive steps. We are going into our second match and therefore we want to strengthen areas and see how we can execute different things within the particular moment of beating another team, a team that maybe has different height or they are quick. So it is that sort of thing, of how we match up and that is what we are looking at," she added.
