Youth netballers from Turtle Netters and local netball coaches were in for a treat when major officials governing the sport paid a visit to a training session hosted earlier this month.
This visit came as part of the Cayman Islands Netball Association development plan, which aims to grow the sport in Cayman.
One of the visiting officials, Bridget Adams, president of Americas Netball, told the Compass that she has returned to Cayman to conduct the level 2 and 3 certifications of over 20 local coaches.
As part of the assessment of coaches, Adams attended a training session at the Cayman International School courts where she evaluated their current training styles and provided the necessary feedback to help the coaches build their skills.
She described Cayman’s coaches as innovative, a characteristic that impressed her and demonstrated they are thinking outside of the box.
She added that she would also like to see more dedication and structure from the coaches — something she says she will advise on. She emphasised the importance of coaches forming new netball clubs or expanding on existing ones by finding new players to get involved.
She also encouraged the coaches to utilise other resources in her absence such as conducting their own research through online tools like YouTube to help improve their craft.
Regarding the youth players, Adams said that she witnessed some who were very “eager and anxious” and ready to move to the next level. She foresees that some of them will progress to national players one day.
Shirley Hooper, vice president of World Netball, was on holiday visiting her daughter who lives in Cayman but says that she found her “netball people”, which led to her attending the session as well.
During her time in the local netball scene, Hooper told the Compass that she found Cayman has very wonderful management. She specifically highlighted the incredible job that current Netball Association President Faith Crooks and past President Lucille Seymour are doing with the sport.
She added, “You can’t do anything anywhere without really strong coaches and really strong officials, so when I look at the work that Faith, her team and Dr. Bridget Adams … have been doing to grow [netball in] Cayman, it’s outstanding,” Hooper said.
Crooks told the Compass that it was an amazing session with the visitors and it allowed for necessary discussions, idea exchanges and constructive feedback, all aimed at growing the sport locally.
She shared that the Netball Association’s goal over the next four years is to focus on building the grassroots programme and developing the corporate elements of the sport through the corporate leagues.
Additional reporting by Seaford Russell Jr.
