By Charmaine Austin, Staff ReporterINTERNATIONAL Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) president, Molly Rhone, will have a packed agenda when she chairs her first official council meeting at the Waterford Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend.
An initial meeting was held right after Rhone's election at the World Championships in Kingston four months ago but it was more of a "getting to know you" session between members of the new executive, she said.
"We're getting down to business. This meeting is geared at tackling serious issues and at the end we hope to have a lot accomplished.
"We have a very packed agenda for the three days," said Rhone, who is also president of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA).
SHORTCOMINGS
The two-tiered structured meeting will revolve around finance and marketing.
IFNA held a meeting in New Zealand two weeks ago at which a marketing sub-committee was appointed and they will make a presentation in Palm Beach.
Falling under finance are contractual issues that will be discussed with netball gear and equipment manufacturers Mitre.
The change in structure of future World Championships and the examination of shortcomings of the technical aspects of the game, namely umpiring and coaching, are among the moot items on the agenda.
The final decision regarding structural changes will be made next March while solution for the other matters are hoped to be found.
This weekend's gathering of the IFNA executive will also afford the members a chance to look at Florida's Broward Convention Centre where IFNA's next major event the 2005 World Youth Championship will be held.
The venue for the next World Netball Championships will also be decided on. Fiji, South Africa and Australia are the countries bidding to stage the event.
Choosing the United States to host the meeting was by no means accidental, as from this trip Rhone would also like to make further headway in getting the sport more recognized there.
EXCITING SPORT
"As part of our plans, we also intend for netball to be seen as the exciting sport it is in the US. Putting the World Youth Championship there is a major step in our achieving this goal. We really need to get it played in schools and colleges in the States," she pointed out.
"At present, a move is afoot in New Jersey to have it started next semester and we're very excited and confident that it will catch on," said Rhone.
The initial two-year term that Rhone will serve does not seem sufficient but she is confident that the goals she has set will be accomplished.
Running IFNA has proven to be "super hectic" Rhone says, but satisfying. "We are running everything by e-mail and I have to be dealing with different cultures and personalities but we are all committed to moving the sport forward. It has been super hectic but a lot is being done," she said.
