By Tiadi Blair
The Guyana Netball Association (GNA) is gearing up for a successful netball season next year as they prepare to take part in the Caribbean Netball Association’s (CNA) under-16 tournament in Barbados and a senior tournament in St. Lucia, both slated for the 2010 calendar.
Stabroek Sport spoke with the secretary of the GNA, Laurence Griffith, who stated that the teams were taking part in practice sessions at weekends, taking advantage of the good weather while giving the women enough time to prepare for the competitions.
The CNA will host its annual under-16 netball tournament next Easter while a senior tournament in July/August is expected to kick off in St. Lucia.
“Right now the under-16 team is getting ready for their tournament during Easter time in Barbados and they are training every weekend, so is the senior team who has a tournament in St. Lucia next year,” said Griffith.
“However, do expect to see a few local tournaments starting with the under-23 tournament at the end of this month, closely followed by a senior tournament in October,” he added.
In the meantime, executive members of the association and players will meet this weekend to discuss ways of garnering funds to support the two tournaments. Funding from government and the business sector would be appreciated as events on any scale can be costly, particularly for unrecognized sports like netball.
At the last netball tournament and Appreciation Awards Ceremony held in July, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, had said he wished to see new energy infused into the sport of netball since the ministry hopes to propel the female dominated sport into the spotlight. Dr. Anthony had added that his team will work with the GNA to ensure netball is played in at least 10 schools within the next year. If such a competition can get underway, Anthony said, he was sure to support it fully.
