Olivia 'Babsy' Grange

Keisha Hill, Staff Reporter

MINISTER OF Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, last week lauded the efforts of Jamaica's Sunshine Girls for their achievements at the World Netball Championships held in Auckland, New Zealand, in November.

Jamaica shaded England 53-52 to cement the bronze medal at the championships. The Girls, led by Romelda Aiken's immaculate shooting performance, rose from the disappointment of losing their epic semi-final encounter with New Zealand to lead from start to finish in the play-off for third place.

Excellent role models

The Sports Minister, speaking at an appreciation ceremony hosted by the Ministry of Sports and the Institute of Sports at the Office of the Prime Minister on Tuesday morning, stated, "These young girls are excellent role models. It is not easy to be number three in the world and number one in the Caribbean.

"In relation to netball, whatever the Government can do, the Government will do to assist the girls in their own personal development and to enhance the sport. Sports is something we should aim to develop professionally. That is my objective and that is this Government's policy; that we take sports development through the schools, we take it through the community and we take it to a professional level," she said.

Meanwhile, Marva Bernard, president of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA), expressed appreciation on behalf of the association, stating that the JNA was thankful for the tangible support afforded to them.