Bernard

In an effort to get themselves acclimatised for their upcoming three-Test series against hosts England next month, the Sunshine Girls will be heading off this weekend to Newcastle for a boot camp, this according to Marva Bernard, president of the Jamaica Netball Association.

"Some of these youngsters, who will likely make the team for the series have never experienced that type of cold before and the coaches wanted to give them the opportunity to see what it is really like in extreme cold weather and Newcastle is the closest place where we can go for this," said Bernard in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday.

The first match will be played on the January 23, the second on the 25 and the third is set for two days later. No venue has yet been announced for the matches.

"It is also going to be a lot of concentration, mind preparation and not much netball is going to be played. It is all going to be about physical and mental-fitness preparation in very cold conditions and this will also be a time for the girls to bond together," she said.

The Jamaicans, who are ranked fourth in the world, defeated England 53-52 to capture the bronze medal at the 2007 World Netball Championships in Auckland, New Zealand.

However, based on a revised rankings system, they were rated fourth in the world on the basis of an earlier 3-0 loss to England in a practice series.

Bernard noted that the series is a very significant one as it forms part of their 50th anniversary celebrations and also part of the rebuilding process.

Opportunity

"This is a very important series for us because England is ranked number three in the world and they have been able to go down to Australia and New Zealand to play a lot more often than we can," said Bernard.

"Therefore every opportunity that we get to play one of the teams in the top four we intend to make full use of it. In order to beat the best we have to play the best continuously, because you can't beat the best by playing teams that are weaker than you, then you will run the risk of lowering your standards," she said.

Molynes United 'A' player, Juliet Clarke (foreground), grabs at the ball while the Jamaica Defence Force's Nickesha Porter (left) looks on during their Jamaica Netball Association/Jamaica National Building Society Open League match at the Leila Robinson Courts last Saturday. Molynes United won 30-15 - Norman Grindley/Deputy acting Photography editor