Jamaica's Sunshine Girls share a photo opportunity prior to their opening game at the Vitality Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday.
Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls expectedly opened their Vitality Netball World Cup campaign with a bang, as they hammered Sri Lanka 105-25 in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday.
The number four-ranked Jamaicans were dominant from the start and didn’t relent against their number 15-ranked opponents for a minute with the towering combination of Romelda Aiken-George and captain Jhaniele Fowler sharing goal shooting duties across two quarters apiece.
Though the Sunshine Girls usual bad habit of making unforced errors kicked in at one point, Aiken-George with 33 goals from 34 attempts and Fowler with 42 goals from 43 attempts, spared their blushes, as goal attacks Rebekah Robinson and Shanice Beckford, contributed 17 and 13 goals respectively.
With the win, the Jamaicans assume pole position in Pool C, ahead of host South Africa, who were 61-50 winners over Wales.
Jamaica’s Head coach Connie Francis started with two debutants in Latanya Wilson at goal defence and wing defence Crystal Plummer, as Robinson and Aiken-George got the starting goal attack and shooter roles ahead of Beckford and Fowler.
The potent attack of the Sunshine Girls saw them open a brisk five-goal lead inside the first 30 seconds, as they displayed their usual speed and flair that delighted crowd, especially when Aiken-George scored a lay-up shot.
In fact, the Jamaicans were so dominant that Sri Lanka’s first goal came almost seven minutes into the opening quarter, which eventually ended 26-5.
Jodi-Ann Ward joined Kadie-Ann Dehaney and the dynamic Plummer in defence for the second quarter and the trio proved too formidable for Sri Lanka’s attackers, as their consistent deflections resulted in the Jamaicans firing in 14 unanswered goals, before the opponents belated got their first almost nine minutes in.
From there, they went on to register a 52-11 half time lead, which all but signalled the writing on the wall for Sri Lanka.
The Jamaicans signalled their intent to hit the century mark with the introduction of Fowler at the start of the third quarter and she flawlessly scored her first 14 attempts, with Beckford providing the necessary support to again outscore Sri Lanka 23-7 for a 75-18 lead heading into the final quarter.
That final quarter represented the best display from Sri Lanka in the shooting circle as the matched the Jamaicans goal for goal in the early exchanges.
However, once the defence lead by Shamera Sterling and player of the game Wilson, found back their rhythm, they forced a number of turnovers and orchestrated some quick transitions for Fowler and Robinson to finish off and propel Jamaica to the 14th 100-plus goal scoreline in the tournament's history.
It was also the first 100-plus score by a team at the World Cup since 2015, when Malawi achieved the feat ironically, also against Sri Lanka.
While the Sunshine Girls scored at 89 percent, they also had 17 turnovers, an issue that Francis is hoping to correct going forward.
“From the first day when we assembled here, I saw the hunger and the will to execute well, and I am very impressed with my team. We made a number of changes just to work on combinations and also to manage the workload because the thing that we are trying to work on mostly is our turnovers.
“We know we have players that can hunt and win balls which makes them dangerous, so it is just to minimize the turnovers some more and we will be good,” Francis said.
For Fowler, the execution was on par for the most parts.
“We wanted to come out and practice some of our strategies and make sure we are cementing some of our plays. Romelda and I are both amazing shooters so either one starting a game is fine, we are just more focused on gelling as best as we can and just going one game at a time,” the captain shared.
The Sunshine Girls will next face Wales on Saturday at 4:00 am Jamaica time.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Fowler-Nembhard achieves 8,000-goal milestone in Fever's win over Mavericks; Aiken-George fires Thunderbird over Lightning
Jamaica’s Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard celebrated another milestone in the Suncorp Super Netball League, as she surpassed the 8,000-goal mark in leading West Coast Fever to an exciting 69-62 victory over Melbourne Mavericks at the John Cain Arena on Saturday.
The ever-reliable Fowler-Nembhard scored a perfect 50 goals from 50 attempts, with support from compatriot Shanice Beckford, who had 18 goals from 16 attempts, including four supershots worth two points each. Olivia Wilkinson contributed the other goal in the Fever’s third-consecutive win.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks scoring was also led by a Jamaican Shimona Jok, who registered 27 goals from 29 attempts before taking up goalkeeper duties. Eleanor Cardwell had 22 goals from 22 attempts, while Gabrielle Sinclair, who sunk six supershots, ended with 13 goals from nine attempts.
The West Coast Fever delivered three quarters of relentless netball, extinguishing any hope of a home victory for the Mavericks on this occasion.
Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard continued to shine brightly, showcasing her exceptional early season form, as the Fever’s made their intentions clear from the start. However, the Mavericks through Maisie Nankivell and Jok, ensured it remained a tightly contested affair, as they took a three-goal lead 17-14 at the conclusion of the first quarter.
Like they did at the start, the Fever scored four unanswered goals at the top of the second quarter courtesy of intercepts by Jamaican Kadie-Ann Dehaney and Jess Anstiss. Though the Mavericks tried to regain the momentum back, Kelsey Browne’s speed and pressure in centre court, saw Fever control and dominate the contest at 40-32 at the half-time interval.
In a surprising move for the Mavericks, Jok transitioned from goalshoot to goalkeeper with hopes of containing Fowler-Nembhard, and her immediate impact was evident. However, Beckford's precision sinking supershots rendered the move futile.
From there, the speed in attack and high intensity pressure led by Dehaney and Fran Williams in defence, coupled with the accuracy of the shooters, propelled the Fever’s to a 11-goal lead at 54-43 to close the third quarter.
The fourth quarter started in the same vein, as Fowler-Nembhard scored her 42nd goal of the evening and brought up 8,000 National League Goals in the process.
Fever held a 10-goal lead at the start of Power Five, before the Mavericks’ supershot prowess saw them cut the deficit to five, but the Dan Ryan-coached Fever’s held their own to close out the win.
Elsewhere, Adelaide Thunderbirds, the team of Jamaicans Romelda-Aiken George, Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, and Latanya Wilson, rebounded from last week’s defeat to top Sunshine Coast Lightning 60-56, at the UniSC Arena.
Aiken-George led the Thunderbirds with 43 goals from 48 attempts, with Lauren Frew (14 goals from 21 attempts), and Lucy Austin (three goals from five attempts) getting in on the act.
Meanwhile, Cara Koenen (24 goals from 26 attempst), Steph Fratwell (26 goals from 27 atempts) and Reilley Batcheldor (six goals from nine attempts) got the goals the Lightning.
The game began with a flurry of errors, centre pass missteps, poor passes, and some defenders hungry for the ball. Both teams traded turnovers, but it was the Lightning, who fell behind as they couldn’t convert from their centre pass.
At the other end, the Thunderbirds not only managed to convert theirs but were then able to take advantage of any intercepts on defence.
From there, it was a case of who handled the ball best throughout the first three quarters which ended 17-4, 31-20, 39-36 in favour of the Thunderbirds, before the Lightning rallied to tie things at 50-50 at the end to send the game into overtime.
There seemed to be some level of confusion for both teams, neither remembering the rules of the overtime period. The Lightning was late to realise that the super shot was in play for the entirety of the overtime period, and the Thunder forgot there were two five-minute halves.
Fretwell took advantage of the supershot, as she nailed a few to put her team within reach, but the Thunderbirds showed no fear, courtesy of Frew and Aiken-George, who saw them to a four-goal win.
Excelsior headlines finalists for Boys Championships of America 4x100m final at Penn Relays
A host of Jamaican schools will line up in the final of the High School Boys Championships of America 4x100m final, as they successfully navigated the qualifiers on day two of the 128th Penn Relays at the Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday.
Leading the qualifiers was the Excelsior quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green, which clocked a brisk 40.62 seconds to top their heat.
They will be joined by local rivals Kingston College (41.30s), St Jago (41.35s), St George’s College (41.42s), Calabar High (41.70s) and Jamaica College (41.73s), and Wolmer’s Boys (41.84s). The other two lanes in the medal event will be occupied by Washington DC-based Archbishop John Carroll (41.49s) and Virginia-based West Springfield (41.77s).
Meanwhile, the High School Boys International final, also scheduled for Saturday, will see six Jamaican schools going up against those from Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines and The Bahamas, respectively.
St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) headlines that field, after they posted the fastest qualifying time of 42.26s, followed by Cornwall College (42.53s) and the Bahamian school Queens College (42.61s). St Benedict’s, of out the twin island republic, and Munro College, both clocked 42.83s, while St Vincent Grammar (43.11s), Petersfield (43.14s), St Catherine (43.26s) and Vere Technical (43.55s), are the other qualifiers.
Frazsiers Whip to represent Jamaica in inaugural Concacaf Women's Champions Cup
As expected, Frazsiers Whip will be Jamaica’s representative in the inaugural Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup, a new annual tournament that includes the best clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean and crowns the region’s women’s club champion.
The tournament is also the sole path through which clubs in Concacaf can qualify for the new FIFA Women’s Club World Cup, which FIFA has committed to launching in the near future.
By virtue of winning the 2022/23 Jamaica Women’s Premier League, Frazsiers Whip booked their spot for the first edition of the competition, which will feature 11 clubs from seven Member Associations.
The other confirmed participants are Canada’s 2023 League One Women’s Inter-Provincial Championship winners Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Costa Rica’s LD Alajuelense, Mexico’s Tigres UANL Femenil, as well as the United States trio of Gotham FC, San Diego Wave FC and Portland Thorns FC.
El Salvador and Panama are yet to confirm their representatives for their solitary spots, while Mexico’s two other representatives will be known at the conclusion of the Liga MX Clausura.
Interim Reggae Girlz Head coach Xavier Gilbert, who guided Frazsiers Whip to league honours, welcomed the move by Concacaf, which he believes will offer some exposure for local players, despite the gulf in class between other leagues around the region and Jamaica's Women's League.
"It's important for local football, however, I don't think any of our local teams will be able to match up with the teams from Mexico or United States. Those clubs are professional clubs playing in a fully professional leagues, while ours is nowhere close to their standard," Gilbert told SportsMax.TV in a recent interview.
"But it is good, it is more football and more exposure for our local players. At the same time, I think it sends a signal of how important it is for us to look at what we are doing in terms of resources and surfaces for our local teams. So, it is good move by Concacaf, and I think it's for us now here in Jamaica to look at what we are doing and try to improve the quality of our league," he added.
The official draw for the tournament is scheduled for June 6.
Action in the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup is expected to get underway in August, with a Preliminary Round, followed by Group and Knockout Stage play. The Preliminary Round Play-in will be a single-leg match between two clubs, with the winner advancing to the Group Stage.
The Group Stage will feature 10 clubs divided into two groups of five clubs each. Each club will play every club in its group once, for a total of four matches per club (two at home and two away). At the conclusion of Group Stage play, the group winners and runners-up (four clubs) will progress to the competition’s final four.
The semifinals, third-place encounter, and final, where the first-ever Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup winners will be crowned, will be centralized in a venue to be announced.
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