By Charmaine Austin, Staff Reporter 
Connally
THE LACK of real competition was the common complaint among Jamaica's Under-16 netballers who on Monday successfully returned from the Caribbean Championships held in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
"We were quite disappointed with the standard of competition because we didn't get a chance to show the kind of potential we really have. Otherwise, it was an exciting championship," said captain Nekeesha Connally upon the team's arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport.
The team returned home laden with every category award plus the Lucille Seymour Cup for topping the championship. Among the awards were Most Attacking, Most Defensive and Best Goal Average with 13 year-old Kadian Mendes being named Most Valuable Player for the team.
Jamaica were registering their third hold on the prestigious Cup, having also won the event in 1998 and 2000.
"Yes we did win, but it was too easy. We were hoping to meet St. Vincent who looked like the strongest team out of all of them, but St. Lucia beat them, surprisingly, so we had to play St. Lucia in the final," Connally said.
The championship was not without its share of problems, but the Jamaicans literally braved the storm to come out on top.
"There was a mini-storm down that side that caused a lot of rain and it was slippery but we didn't mind. We enjoyed playing in the rain," she said.
"At one point we were without light (electricity), two of the courts weren't bright enough but I'm really proud of my teammates. We didn't allow these things to distract us from our goal. I think we did pretty well," the St Hugh's High School student said.
Jamaica finished as the only unbeaten team at the championship, registering convincing wins over Cayman Islands, Antigua, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and beating St. Lucia 41-18 in the final after a score of 21-5 at halftime.
"St Lucia didn't know what hit them. We were all over them from start to finish. They tried to fight back but our girls were just too good," said local coach/umpire Robert White who travelled with the team as one of many supporters.
