FOUR MEMBERS of Jamaica's Under-16 netball team have been selected as part of the West Indies All Star squad after their outstanding showing at the just-concluded Caribbean Championships held in St Vincent and the Grenadines.Kerese Brown and defender Tamika Stewart were placed in the starting line-up while Yoki-Ann Taylor and Kerry-Ann Brown were named among the reserves.
The West Indies All Star netball team comprises 16 of the region's best players.
"We are very happy for our girls and very proud of them. I'm glad that some of our players were able to make the team," Jamaica team manager Cora Ricketts said.
"This says a lot about our junior programme. We have matchless skills. The coach Miss (Joan) Cargill is a really good basic skills teacher. She is good at imparting these skills and did a good job preparing the team," she added.
But amidst the celebrations of the youngsters' accomplishments questions are being raised about the selection criteria.
Jamaica won the Caribbean Championships, finishing as the only unbeaten team from the field of 10 regional participants. They also copped the major awards at the tournament, namely Most Attacking, Most Defensive, Best Goal Average yet they have the least number of players selected to the West Indies side.
Kadian Mendes, voted Jamaica's Most Valuable Player, did not make the cut while MVPs for the other nine teams got a place in the West Indies team.
Taylor, while a good centre court player, gained a place over some of her equally talented teammates though she had only played for 10 minutes in the entire tournament. She had hurt her hand in a rally match and injured her ankle in another preliminary game that forced her out of competition.
"I don't know what they use to determine who gets selected and why but it is one that forces us to ask questions. We are not trying to make this an issue of this but we undoubtedly had the best team there, yet only two of our players were selected.
"And, there were others on the team that played well enough to earn a place. Mendes for example is a fine goal attack. The best in my opinion at the championships and she didn't get picked. But it happens to us every time. We didn't expect to make the entire 16 but at least....." Ricketts said.
