Robert Bailey, Freelance WriterJAMAICA'S SUNSHINE Girls, who are preparing for this year's World Netball Championships (WNC), have intensified their preparations with the hiring of a new fitness trainer.
The WNC will be held in New Zealand between November 10-17. Clifton Forbes, who worked with the national senior team in 2003 when the Championships were held here in Jamaica, took over from former fitness trainer Bryan Campbell earlier this month.
"Our preparation has changed immensely. We have a new fitness coach and the girls have stepped up their fitness routine," said coach Connie Francis.
New team in training
She revealed there were quite a few youngsters in the team who had never seen this type of competition before.
"So it is really a new team in some aspects ... but one of the good things is having the balance in the team-including having a few veteran players in the squad," Francis said. "We didn't have Nadine Bryan and Sharon Wiles for our last competitive series against Australia and New Zealand but we do have them now, which is certainly a plus for us."
The Jamaicans are gearing up to host England in a three-Test series next month, the final competitive games before the WNC and Francis said she would be taking the encounters very seriously.
'Good for us'
"This series is very important because we went to New Zealand and Australia last month and played all the girls we took down there with the aim of trying to find a good team and a competitive 12, and we failed," said Francis.
The first match is set for September 17, the second on the 19th and the third on the 20th, all at the National Indoor Sports Centre.
"It would be really good for us going into the World Champion-ships knowing we have an edge because we would have beaten one of the top teams in the world," the former national star said.
