SportsMax is to re-introduce the staging of the Caribbean High School Football Championship between high school teams from Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

The competition will see St. Benedict and Fatima College of the Secondary School Football League (SSFL) in Trinidad and the two finalists from the Olivier Shield in the Inter-School Secondary Sports Association School Boy Football (ISSA SBF) competing for the coveted trophy in Kingston, Jamaica.

The Caribbean High School Football Championship will be held in January 2023, with qualifying matches to be played on January 13.

The action concludes on January 15 with the finals, where the teams with the most points or best goal average, compete for the championship title and the grand prize of US$10,000, courtesy of SportsMax.

“I am extremely happy about the opportunity to bring the regional giants of Caribbean School Boy Football from the SSFL in Trinidad and from ISSA in Jamaica to a Caribbean final to see who will take home the trophy of the SBF Champions of the Caribbean,” said Nicolas Matthews, CEO of SportsMax.

“As the leading sports content broadcaster and production house in the Caribbean, SportsMax will create a robust and extensive promotion for the Caribbean High School Football Championship. We will cover traditional and digital media in a calculated effort to have Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago’s schoolboy football achievements celebrated in the 60^th year of their countries Independence, pushing the mantra that we are ONE Caribbean!”

President of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association, Keith Wellington was equally excited about the return of the competition.

 “ISSA is happy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Independence of Jamaica and Trinidad through this match-up of our top schoolboy football teams,” he said.

“Schoolboy football has been a favourite activity of both nations and this opportunity for regional interaction amongst our youths is priceless!”

General Manager of Tiger Tanks Denis Latif title sponsors of the SSFL said he is keen on seeing how the competition plays out between the best schoolboy teams from both countries.

 “Tiger Tanks are pleased to be a part of the 'rekindling' of the rivalry between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

“With both nations celebrating special anniversaries in 2022, it is only fitting that this is the beginning of many other things to come. Both countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, have always been vying for top honours in the Caribbean and with our football now getting back on stream I am very eager to see the hunger on the field.”

With extensive coverage on multiple platforms, football fans will be able to access exciting football throughout the Caribbean and in the Diaspora through a wide array of broadcast platforms including SportsMax, SportsMax2, the SportsMax App and the SportsMax YouTube channel, sister station CEEN TV which broadcasts to the United States, United Kingdom and Canada and also on the web at www.ceen.tv.

Viewers in the Diaspora will also be able to tune in on what promises to be a thrilling display of skill, school camaraderie and country pride.

“SportsMax has broadcast both leagues over the last five years and we have seen the birth of so many class footballers, many of whom have gone on to the national and international stage,” said Matthews.

“This final playoff is meant to endorse regional sports integration and also to reward our SBF athletes through their schools for the excellent work they have put in throughout the season. We are looking to organizing this playoff annually and to rotate it across countries and, in the long term, look to add other countries to be a part of the Caribbean play-off.”

The initiative also aims to create synergy in sports at the high school level between arguably the two most successful football nations in the English-speaking Caribbean - Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago – as well as increasing interest and viewership of the sport and athletes while exposing them to meaningful opportunities from all stakeholders, scouts, schools, clubs, the Diaspora and alumni communities.

“I am tremendously elated to be part of the re-emergence of the Caribbean High School Football Championship between ISSA and SSFL,” said SSFL President Merere Gonzales.

“Providing such a crucial platform for our student-athletes would certainly aid in the continued development and advancement of our youths in the region, allowing them, the opportunity to source football scholarships or professional contracts.” 

The Caribbean High School Football Championship is slated to be an annual event and with the support of the high school associations and the sports ministries from both countries, we foresee the rise of the most-anticipated event in the youth sports calendar. 

“SportsMax will continue its efforts to bring the Caribbean together through sports and entertainment and ensure that athletes and viewers in the Caribbean continue to see the best talents and with the best seats from the Home of Champions,” Matthews said.

“We implore you to show country pride as we bring to you a synergy like no other.”

It will be an All-Clarendon final in this year’s daCosta Cup as Clarendon College and Central High got penalty-shootout wins over the Manning’s School and Manchester High, respectively, in the semi-finals at STETHS on Wednesday.

Clarendon College will get a chance to win their 10^th daCosta Cup title and first since 2019 after booking their place in the final with a 5-4 penalty shootout win over the Manning’s School in the first semi-final.

Manning’s took the lead in the 19^th minute through a brilliant strike from Jhamaleek Porter before Keheim Dixon equalized for Clarendon College in the 52^nd minute.

That score-line held through regulation meaning the finalists would have to be decided via a penalty-shootout. In the end, Clarendon College recovered from missing their first penalty in the shootout and held their nerve to eliminate last year’s finalists.

Their opponents in the final will be Central High who also needed a penalty-shootout to beat Manchester High in the second semi-final.

Central High took the lead through a close-range strike from captain Dylane Clarke in the 24^th minute before Manchester equalized through a Nickoy Bartley penalty in the 55^th minute.

Their game also ended 1-1 meaning penalties were needed once again. Through 10 penalties, each team only had one miss meaning they entered sudden death. A miss from Manchester’s Tyrese Douglas then set up an opportunity for Central to book a spot in their first ever daCosta Cup final which captain Clarke grabbed with both hands by comfortably slotting home the winning penalty for a 5-4 triumph.

The final will be played on December 3 at 4:15pm at STETHS.

Meanwhile, a new champion will be crowned in the ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup after Jamaica College and STATHS got wins over Mona High and defending champions Kingston College, respectively, in Tuesday's semi-finals at the National Stadium.

STATHS, who lost 2-4 to KC in last year's semis, got their revenge with a 3-2 triumph in the day's second game. Shakeone Satchwell opened the scoring for STATHS in the ninth minute before Rashaun Frankinson doubled their lead in the 25th. Nashordo Gibbs cut the deficit to one in the 31st minute before Dwayne Atkinson restored their two-goal lead in the 65th minute.

Dujuan Richards closed the gap again in the 89th minute but that was too little too late.

Joining STATHS in the final will be 30-time champions Jamaica College who got a narrow 2-1 win over Mona High in the earlier game. Donhue Mitchell struck in the sixth minute to give Mona, playing in their first ever semi-final, the early advantage.

JC responded as Tarick Ximines scored the equalizer in the 30th minute before Kevaughn Wilson converted a 58th-minute penalty to secure the victory.

The final will take place on December 2 at 6:15pm at Sabina Park.

This will be the third time in the last six seasons that JC and STATHS have contested the Manning Cup Final, with JC winning both previous meetings in 2017 and 2019.

The Jamaica Gymnastics Association will act as hosts of the International Gymnastics Federation’s (FIG) Technical Committee meetings scheduled to be held at the Oceans Coral Springs Hotel in Falmouth, Jamaica from November 25-29.

The FIG Technical Committee has the responsibility of setting all code of points and the technical direction of Artistic Gymnastics.

According to the JGA President, Nicole Grant, that the FIG selected Jamaica to hosts these very important meetings is an indicator of the JGA’s growing stature within the sport and she sees it as a major milestone.

“We are super excited that the Ministry of Tourism and the Jamaica Tourist Board as well as Elite Diagnostics for coming on board at such short notice to make this possible for us,” said JGA President Nicole Grant. 

“We are also pleased that the Pan American Gymnastics Union president Naomi Valenzzo will also be visiting Jamaica during the Technical Committee meetings. She was very instrumental in getting the FIG to donate much needed equipment last month.

“We are even more excited that the President (Donatella Sacchi) and Vice President (Nehad Zayed) of the FIG Technical Committee have decided to arrive two days early to see our National Junior elites who are currently preparing for the PAGU Youth Tournament in Columbia from December 2-16, 2022.”

Grant revealed that the officials will be also meeting members of the JGA board as well as judging the national juniors in pre-competition on Thursday November 24 at the Jamaica School of Gymnastics on Slipe Road in Kingston.

The Jamaica Scorpions had two of the top three leading run scorers in the 2022 CG Insurance Super50 competition that ended on Saturday night with the Jamaican franchise defeated the Trinidad and Tobago Red Force by three wickets in a tense encounter at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

Captain Rovman Powell ended the tournament with the highest aggregate of 346 runs, just four more than Red Force captain Nicholas Pooran (342) and nine more than his teammate Brandon King (337). But it was success of his bowlers that led the Scorpions to their first regional 50-over title since 2012 when Tamar Lambert led Jamaica to victory.

Four Jamaican Scorpion bowlers are among the top 10 wicket takers in the tournament – Odean Smith and Nicholson Gordon each took 15 wickets and shared the prize of leading wicket taker with Red Force and former West Indies paceman Shannon Gabriel. Not far behind were spinner Dennis Bulli with 14 wickets and Jeavor Royal with 12.

Asked about the impact of Smith and Gordon, Powell said the two pace bowlers were key to the team’s success this season.

 “They were very, very important in the sense that every time I gave them the ball they delivered right throughout the tournament,” he said.

“As a captain, it is very good when you find bowlers that give you wickets in crucial times of the game and both of them have been fantastic throughout the entire tournament. Not the most fast-bowling friendly wickets to be honest but they have been very good.”

Smith took his 15 wickets at an average of 19.26 and economy of 5.25 wicket while Gordon was slightly more expensive at 21.26 and economy of 5.94.

Bulli snared wickets at an average of 18.64 and economy of 4.75 while Royal took his 12 wickets at an average of 21.91 and economy of 3.92.

Meanwhile, the team has been praised by the Jamaica Cricket Association on its triumphant season.

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) congratulates our national senior men’s team “The Jamaica Scorpions” on winning the regional CG United Super 50 Championship. This achievement is the end product of teamwork, intense preparation and exemplary leadership,” said President Billy Heaven in a statement released on Sunday.

“Under the astute leadership of Captain Rovman Powell and guidance of Head Coach Andrew Richardson and Assistant Coach Nikita Miller, the world witnessed the Jamaica Scorpions win five games back to back. The collective performance of the entire team has made Jamaica proud.”

According to Heaven, strategic planning by the JCA that places emphasis on a player centric approach built an ‘exceptional team’ that claimed the trophy in a year when Jamaica celebrates its 60^th year of independence.

“Cricket is known as the Gentleman’s Sport and on November 19, 2022, as the world celebrated International Men’s Day, Jamaica Scorpions provided the perfect celebration of the day winning the CG United Super 50 Championship in fine cricketing style,” Heaven said.

“This year Jamaica celebrates its 60th year of independence and cricket has always been a rich part of our history and legacy. The JCA is therefore extremely proud that our senior men’s team provided this gift to a proud nation on its diamond jubilee. Gentlemen we raise our bats to you.”

Jamaica Scorpions spinner Dennis Bulli has credited a strong showing in the CGI insurance Super50 tournament with getting a good opportunity to showcase his talent.

The 35-year-old Bulli was one of the standout bowlers for the tournament and claimed an impressive 14 wickets in 6 matches, with an economy rate of 4.76.  Despite playing two fewer matches, the spinner was just one wicket off the top spot occupied by Shannon Gabriel (15), Odean Smith (15), and Nicholas Gordon (15).

In Saturday’s final, the left-arm spinner's mesmerizing skills were on full display when he left Trinidad and Tobago Red Force batsman Darren Bravo bamboozled all ends up, to take the crucial wicket of the dangerous batsman and end with figures of 1 for 44.

With a tournament best of 4 for 32, against the West Indies Academy, Bulli, who has not always managed to find consistency, was one of the key reasons the team was able to win the first Super50 title in 10 years.

“I’ve had times but I never got a good enough chance to express myself but this has been one of those times,” Bulli said of his performances this season.

“The first time I really got a chance to express myself was in 2019 and I did well.  I got called up for the President’s XI team and got injured, got picked for the CPL, and got covid.  So this is another opportunity and a good time for me to show what I can do.”

Jamaica assistant coach Nikita Miller insists the team can afford to take nothing for granted when they face Trinidad and Tobago, in the final of the CGI Insurance Super50 Cup, on Saturday.

The Jamaicans will be looking to claim their first title since 2012 and should enter the match with some confidence after a strong batting performance against Guyana on Thursday, in the semi-finals,  and four straight wins.

Miller knows, however, that the challenge will be different against an in-form Trinidad and Tobago who have lost just once this season.

“We will have to plan for Trinidad’s game differently.  We have gone to a couple of their games and looked at some footage and we'll plan our approach,” Miller said ahead of the game.

Trinidad and Tobago were the zone A winners after finishing ahead of Guyana, while Jamaica won zone B ahead of the Leeward Islands.

“We’re looking forward to it we are not going into that game overconfident.  We know that they are playing good cricket and they know that we are playing good cricket as well,” Miller added.

The Jamaicans managed to defeat Trinidad and Tobago in the final the last time they won the trophy.   

The Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA) is among six federations nominated for World Athletics’ Member Federation Award.

Manchester High, Clarendon College, Central High and the Manning’s School have advanced to the semi-finals of this year’s ISSA/Digicel daCosta Cup.

Clarendon College and Manchester are the form teams heading into the final four having won all three games in their respective quarterfinal round groups to finish with nine points. Group B winners Clarendon College also failed to concede a goal.

Second place in Group B was taken by Central who will be in the semis for the first time in their school’s history after getting a crucial 2-0 win in their final game over Edwin Allen at Foga Road on Monday for their only points of the round. It ended up being enough in the end as they advanced on goal difference after finishing level on points with Dinthill and Edwin Allen.

Last year’s beaten finalists, the Manning’s School, are once again in the final four after getting six points from their three games in Group A while group winners Manchester High are back in the daCosta Cup semis for the first time since 2016.

Both games will be played at STETHS on November 23.

Manchester will play Central at 2:00pm before Clarendon College and Manning’s lock horns at 4:00pm.

Wallball is a sport being played globally in over 100 countries and Founder and President of the Jamaica Wallball Association, Oneil Cummings, is optimistic about where the sport can go in the country.

Wallball is an indirect style of a ball game where the player hits a small rubber ball with their hand against a wall. The goal of the game is to score more points than the opponent. If the opponent fails to return the ball, the player scores a point. The game begins when one player serves the ball by hitting the ball towards the wall. The ball must bounce one time on the ground before it reaches the wall. The receiving player must let the ball hit the wall and bounce once before returning it.

“We are launching off at a very small level but we can only grow. We are hopeful that the sport will take off in Jamaica. I am hopeful that we will get the support that will foster the growth of the sport here,” he said at the JWA’s press launch and demo of Wallball at the University of Technology (UTECH) on Saturday.

“There are several emerging and exciting sporting activities that have been helping to foster greater social cohesion across the world and the game of Wallball represents one of those,” added Cummings before going into ways the association plans to integrate the sport locally.

“We at the Jamaica Wallball Association intend to host an annual International Invitational Pro Tournament so the future should be very bright for prospective players.”

Getting the sport into schools is also a goal down the line for Cummings, who reiterated that this is just phase one of their plans as the association, formed in 2018, is just picking up where they left off after taking a break due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

“This is just phase one. We are now creating a brand so marketing will be very important after this phase. The association was formed just before Covid so now we are just picking up back where we left off before the break.”

He did mention one partnership that is already in motion with the hosts of the event, UTECH.

Donna-Marie Wynter-Adams, head of the Caribbean School of Sports Sciences at the university, spoke about the essence of their partnership with the JWA.

“We are always open to doing the certification for small federations and we have a sport elective. We feel that our graduates must know not only their field of study, but they must also develop the sportsmanship and community spirit that comes from sport. We have electives that you can do from another module and we have the sports elective so you can do Basketball, Golf and learn to swim and we can add Wallball to that collection that we can offer to persons who are getting their degree.”

“We think it is a good partnership because you are introducing another sport. If you realize now, we are expanding. Our athletes want to do field events and novel sports. With 2.9 million persons, not all of them want to do the 100 metres. It is good when we bring in small sports because we have a great capacity for sport,” she added before going into some benefits of playing Wallball.

“You can burn a lot of calories with it. It is not related to your age, just your ability to move. Even if you are not able to move and you’re wheelchair bound, you can still play it.”

Phase one of the associations efforts to grow Wallball in Jamaica will involve a series of training and demonstration clinics in the Kingston & St Andrew and Portmore areas from November 11-20. The training series will be hosted by the Wallball International Federation.

“We are very excited to be here to introduce a new sport to Jamaica. It is very easy to play,” said Colombian WIF President Alberto Viteri.

International players Tony Roberts, Paul Yagual and Stephanie Vega will be the coaches at the clinics while Cummings also noted that Jamaica College, Papine High, Bridgeport High, Kingston College and Donald Quarrie High will all be involved.

 Jamaica and Bournemouth forward Jamal Lowe believes a convincing defeat over Everton, in the third round of the EFL Cup earlier this week, should give the team a psychological advantage heading into Saturday’s Premier League rematch.

On Tuesday, Lowe scored the first of 4 goals in a 4-1 demolition of the Toffees at Vitality Stadium and is feeling confident with the teams set up for a quick repeat of the fixture in league competition.  With both teams struggling just above the relegation zone and Bournemouth winless in their last 5 games Lowe is eager to drive home any possible advantage.

"I think it will give us a slight physiological edge on Everton, I feel like they'll have a little bit of doubt in their mind, and we'll go into the game confidently,” Lowe said of the upcoming fixture.

The 26-year-old has made just one appearance, from the bench, so far this Premier League season but could be in contention for Saturday’s matchday squad after a creditable performance on Tuesday.

“I think it shows how hard we work during the week that players who haven't played that much were able to put out a performance like that today (Tuesday)."

A Leeds fan who was accused of racially abusing Jamaica and West Ham forward Michail Antonio has been banned from football events for 4 years.

The incident occurred during the teams defeat to West Ham at Elland Road in 2021.  On that occasion Antonio scored a 90^th minute winner to give the Hammers a 2-1 win.

Following the goal, Gary Hawkins, a 52-year-old male, was found to not have only abused Antonio from his seat but also threatened another fan who challenged him regarding the language. 

Hawkins was found guilty of two offences after a trial at Leeds Magistrates' Court and given an eight-week sentence, suspended for 12 months.

The West Yorkshire Police were quick to condemn the action.

"Race hate crime such as this is truly abhorrent and can never be tolerated,” said Supt Russ Hughes.

"As we have seen with this incident, other fans will rightly take exception to this type of behaviour.”

Khadijah Shaw has expressed her delight at winning the Women’s Super League Player of the Month Award for the very first time.

The 24-year-old Manchester City and Jamaica striker was named Barclays WSL player for October after leading her team to victories over Leicester City, Tottenham and Liverpool, scoring five goals in those three matches.

Shaw’s seven goals this season make her the leading scorer in the WSL and has helped City climb to fourth in the league on 12 points after losing their first two games of the season.

“I am delighted to win this award for the first time. It has been a very successful month for us as a team and I am grateful to everyone who voted for me in a very talented shortlist of players,” said Shaw who played for Jamaica in their 1-0 win over Paraguay in an international friendly in Jamaica on Thursday.

“We are feeling so confident after these recent wins and I am enjoying my football right now personally, but the most important thing is results and helping the team to have as much success as possible.”

Shaw is in her second season with Manchester City after joining in 2021 from Bordeaux in France where she was the Golden Boot winner with 22 goals and seven assists.

Shaw will suit up for Jamaica again on Sunday when Jamaica plays Paraguay at the National Stadium in Kingston in the second of two international friendlies.

The Jamaica Under-18 Crocs and the Senior Crocs, both men and women, are set to compete at the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Sevens competitions from November 11-13 in Mexico City, Mexico.

The championship should have been held in February but the RAN Medical Committee and the Mexican Rugby Federation) decided to postpone because of a surge in the COVID-19 omicron variant.

Jamaica’s senior men’s team are fresh out of World Cup competition while the boys recently topped an Under-19 tournament involving RAN teams in July.

This will be the RAN first Super Sevens' week in which Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands' juniors will be competing in and Bruce Martin, the technical director of the Crocs' Rugby Sevens programme, extended gratitude to the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA), which played "a vital and integral role" in the team being able to attend.

“This is a great deal for the Jamaica Under 18 Junior Crocs that acts as a catalyst to so many more major events for us in rugby,” said Martin. “The JOA recognizes that this (U18 RAN Sevens) is a result of many years of hard work and strict dedication from our players on the pathway to dynamic moves in Jamaica Rugby and the JOA equally shares our excitement.”

The junior competition gets going on Friday with Jamaica facing to Mexico B in the morning opener. Afternoon matches will follow against the British Virgin Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.

The senior competition gets going on Saturday with Jamaica's men tackling Curacao in the day's opening match while the women will take on the Dominican Republic near midday. The women will follow up with a game against Bermuda before going up against hosts Mexico.

The focus of the Under-18 Crocs will be to secure a spot at the Youth Commonwealth Games Summer 2023 tournament in Trinidad & Tobago. The longer-term goal will be to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles, United States.

"This is an exciting time for the Jamaica Under 18 junior Crocs rugby team and it is an added bonus to have the financial support of the JOA all the while understating the budget constraints that they are faced with," Martin said.

He pointed out that the sporting body has "sacrificed with the knowledge that they understand the vision in seeing what this platform allows," while noting his appreciation that Jamaica's players will be able to display their talents and earn their spot as one of the best Under 18 rugby teams not only in the Caribbean, but also in the world.

Lisa Smith has a vision that Antigua and Barbuda netball can one day be a force to be reckoned with in the Caribbean and by extension, the world.

However, it will require massive investment and patience if the tiny Caribbean island famous for its white-sand beaches and iconic cricketers is to achieve its goal of producing world-class netball players.

Smith, an experienced Level 2 United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC) netball coach, volunteered to lead the Antigua netball programme in August and nine weeks later took a team to the Americas Netball Qualifier in Jamaica in October.,

With only a few weeks to prepare, the team lost all seven matches it played but Smith came away feeling optimistic about the future, at least from the perspective of available talent.

“I keep trying to remind myself that I arrived in Antigua nine weeks ago and put a team together with people that had played on some international stages at the OECS but not necessarily this level,” she said after the team had suffered its third loss, a 62-29 defeat against Grenada.

“This is a whole new level for Antigua netball. I am seeing so much about that team that is potential for the future. I always knew there was going to be an immense amount of work. That’s the exciting part. That’s the part that I love.”

Subsequent losses to Jamaica (80-29), Cayman (47-42), St Lucia (54-32) and Barbados (68-29), along with opening-day losses to Trinidad and Tobago (55-24) and the United States (34-22) meant that Antigua will be looking to the future fully aware of the significant work that lay ahead.

Smith provided a frank assessment of the team’s performance afterwards.

“The Antigua team by their own admittance were grossly under-prepared when I arrived to coach them in August,” she told Sportsmax. TV

“However, all we could do is set some plans, carry them out and make the first steps to encourage the players involved to see themselves and treat themselves as national athletes.

“The creation of a squad and effective working units were paramount to the coaching team having achieved any of the targets we set for ourselves.

“The standard was expected to be high and it didn’t surprise me to see losses but we stuck to regular quarter-by-quarter, match-by-match plans.”

Notwithstanding the challenges, Smith revealed some positives that she took from the tournament, the building blocks for a foundation to build on for the future.

 “(We) achieved defence targets by holding off goals and managed to in some cases exceed our goal targets,” she said.

“We suffered early losses but learnt how to fight through third and fourth quarters with resolve and physical strength. Rotations were tough due to several mid-week injuries and the frequency of matches with zero recovery took a heavy toll on players.

“We used all our reserves and saw advantages for using our younger players proving we no longer need to worry about the loss of seasoned players from the team but use their experience to develop and encourage the next generation.”

For that development to become reality, many changes are necessary for Antigua’s netball to grow. For one, there is a desperate need for even more funding.

Netball on the islands does not get enough support and is almost entirely dependent on fundraising efforts and the generosity of benefactors.  However, some financial backing is provided by the Antigua Olympic Committee and other sponsors, for which Smith has expressed her gratitude.

"We’re grateful to all our sponsors, in particular the NOC in Antigua, who have shown continuous support to our programme," she said.

But more is needed.

Shortly after Smith arrived in Antigua in August, she launched a GoFundMe account to raise £1000 to assist with getting the team to Jamaica. Each player on the squad was also tasked with raising US$450 to fund the trip.

Somehow, they managed to raise the estimated EC$100,000 needed but going forward things will have to change.

“We have pencilled together a 10-year plan but obviously it takes a lot of funding and I am listening to the Jamaican head of netball and the president of netball telling me how difficult it is,” Smith said.

“Times that by a million because it’s me that’s been able to be out there getting sponsorship in the last nine weeks. We didn’t know we were coming until (the week before the Americas Netball Qualifier) and we physically did not have the funds in order to get here until we got the last few sponsors on board by begging, stealing and borrowing. I am going to be dead honest about that, that shouldn’t be the case.”

The islands also do not have a structured grassroots programme, something that Smith hopes to correct.

“That needs putting into place hugely,” she declared.

“There’s a schools’ netball programme which, from my point of view, should therefore be feeding into a higher programme of performance so that we could take those best players from those teams in the village leagues and the schools and be producing more of a performance academy of those players from U14, U16, U18, and start to develop that so that they’re feeding the national team and that is where my focus will be next year.”

It will take years for Antigua and Barbuda to raise the level of play to the desired standards but the goal is to become the next ‘Jamaica’ in the Caribbean.

 “The comparison is huge but it’s where we want to get to. I always enjoy watching the Jamaica Senior team when they come over to the UK. I have watched all of their matches and been courtside watching them. I absolutely love watching them play,” she said.

Smith was very impressed with the Sunshine Girls and how well they performed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England in August.

“Their style of play is what is so attractive to me and that’s why I like being out here coaching because of the style and flair that Caribbean netball brings. Then the structure that we then put in place from a lot of the UK and Australian netball, I love the blend of that.

“Jamaica has got it right. They took the Commonwealth by storm and I think they came out with a bit of a hard match on that last one but we were all rooting for them.”

Referring to the young Jamaican team that went unbeaten in their exhibition games in the Qualifier, Smith said: “They put so much athleticism into everything. Those girls there out on the court look world-class. To have that as your next generation brings goosebumps and I would love to be in that position one day.”

Jamaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts is hopeful that the Reggae Girlz will make it out of the first round at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“I personally want us to go beyond the first round,” said Ricketts when speaking to SportsMax.TV.

It will be a tough task for the girls who were drawn in Group F alongside powerhouses France and Brazil as well as either Chinese Taipei, Panama, Papua New Guinea or Paraguay. They kick-off their World Cup campaign against the French in Sydney on July 23.

Jamaica will host the Paraguayans for two friendlies in Montego Bay on Thursday and Kingston on Sunday. Ricketts says these games are designed to prepare the girls for the type of opposition they will have to overcome if they are to make noise in Australia and New Zealand.

“We play two games against Paraguay. One in Montego Bay and one in Kingston. It’s a part of our preparation process,” he said.

“We just want some good results. It’s not all about winning but the coaches certainly want to establish a philosophy and a style of play that would make them competitive when they go to the World Cup,” he added.

Ricketts also said that we can expect more friendlies to be scheduled for the girls in the new year.

“We will have discussions with the coaches when we get to Montego Bay just to get an idea of exactly who they would want to play or which teams they would want to engage and then we’ll be having discussions with teams coming up for the February FIFA window.”

The Catherine Hall Sports Complex will play host to the first Paraguay friendly at 8:00pm local time while the second game kicks off at 6:00pm on Sunday at the National Stadium.