From Iva Wharton in Trinidad compliments of Digicel Guyana
The America Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) tournament opened on Saturday in Trinidad and Tobago with Guyana one of nine teams that participated in the march past at the indoor netball facility of the Hasley Crawford Stadium.
Guyana joined Grenada as debut participants in the tournament after the local netball association became a member of the group earlier this year. President of the AFNA/IFNA (International Federation of Netball Associations) Molly Rhone, in her presentation at the opening ceremony, said that hosting such tournamentswas no easy task, but that they took up the challenge.
“Teams have travelled from as far as Canada and Grenada to play in this championship. I congratulate them all and they will captivate with their skill, agility and knowledge of the game as they compete against each other in friendly rivalry,” she declared.
Apart from hosts Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Guyana other countries competing in the tournament are the United States of America, St. Lucia, Jamaica, Canada, Bermuda and Barbados.
The competition, which started on Saturday, ends on July 21.
Meanwhile, Guyana lost its opening match of the competition to powerhouse and hosts Trinidad and Tobago by 105 to 10 goals.
In front of a sold out crowd Guyana tried its best but it just was not enough to get past the Trinidadians who were much bigger than most of the players on team Guyana.
The Guyanese players attempted overhead passes but saw the balls being intercepted by the Trinidadians in mid-air.
The Trinidad players scored on nearly every occasion the ball reached the goal scorer, who missed only a few attempts.
While the Guyana possesses a few seasoned players, the majority of the players are relatively inexperienced when compared to host team.
Guyana’s next match is against St. Lucia.
