By Iva Wharton
Height and athleticism will now be considered when the Guyana Netball Association (GNA) does its next recruitment drive according to GNA President Kim Kyte-John.
“Basically what is happening now is who is interested in the sport is being selected and we have to remember that not a lot of people play netball, so we have to do a lot of work to try and get the best out of them.
“Now that we are looking at the development of the under-16s we will try to generate interest in the schools where we are going to start looking at height.”
Kyte-John, who was not present at the International Federation of Netball Association (IFNA) tournament, said from the pictures she saw, Guyana’s tallest female was still shorter than most of the girls they faced in Trinidad some two months ago.
She, nevertheless, said that with the upcoming schools’ championships next month, the association will be looking to broaden its pool of players from which hopefully they will have girls to their new criteria.
Kyte-John, however, said that girls who do not meet the new height requirement will not be overlooked but added that the association was hoping to attract taller girls which will see them being able to compete with teams such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados.
Speaking of the team, Kyte-John said that they are in the process of regrouping but said that her players are not giving up as the tournament was seen as a learning experience.
“You never know how good you are until you have been tested. So what we have been doing here was just modeling against ourselves but going overseas and competing will give you the kind of experience and exposure that will make you better.”
Guyana’s next international tournament is sometime next year when the under-16 girls will compete in Barbados.
