– Advertisement –
By Neto Baptiste
Head coach of the Antigua and Barbuda Women’s Netball Team and former national player, Jamilla Fitz, said that as a nation, we must develop our own brand of netball if we are to compete with the top teams within the OECS and the wider Caribbean.
Her call follows Antigua and Barbuda’s fourth-place finish at the recently held ECCB-sponsored OECS International Netball Series in Grenada where, after getting off to a three-game winning streak, the team fell to OECS powerhouses, Grenada, St Lucia and eventual champions, St Vincent & the Grenadines.
“I think we need to adopt a style of play that suits our players because most times, we just tend to go off of what the other team is playing and then we make silly mistakes and unforced errors. So we need to adapt our style of play so that going forward, when we meet these teams, we can just bring them down to our level,” she said.
Antigua and Barbuda mirrored their fourth-place finish at the 2024 tournament but, according to Fitz, showed major improvements in some key areas.
“I was actually aiming for the top three, but we came in fourth, which is an improvement from last year’s position, so I’m satisfied. I think we improved on our communication and fitness to an extent. I think our issue is that when we get to those big teams, we tend to play their game instead of our game, and that’s where we started to make mistakes,” the coach said.
On a personal note, Fitz said the experience was a learning one for her as she continues to grow into the head coach role.
“It just teaches me how to deal with people on a whole. Everybody is not the same; we all have to deal with different players, giving our instructions to players and to see how they actually go and execute. It’s a good feeling,” she said.
St Vincent and the Grenadines were overall OECS champions, winning on goal difference. Grenada placed second with St Lucia finishing third.
About The Author
– Advertisement –
