Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Bernard

Following Jamaica's Sun-shine Girls' success, in the Americas Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) tournament, in St Vincent and the Grenadines last month, the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) has decided to stage two national trial matches.

The Sunshine Girls finished the regional championship as the only unbeaten team in the competition. The team comprised six members of the Under-21 team, which lost a three-match series 0-3 to the Australia Institute of Sports (AIS).

Marva Bernard, president of the JNA, said the aim of the trials is to recruit new players for both the junior and senior teams.

"Both our Under-21 and the seniors will be on duty at the same time in July next year, and we want to make sure both sides are evenly balanced," Bernard explained while stating the part of the reason for the trials, in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday.

First trial

The first trial is set to take place at the Leila Robinson Courts, National Stadium, on August 16. The second is scheduled for August 23rd at the St James Cricket Club in Montego Bay.

Bernard noted that recent defeats to the Under-21 team against Australia and the retirement of a number of players from the senior team were some of the reasons that prompted the JNA decision to recruit new players.

Recent series

"The recent series against Australia shows us that there is a need for new players, and I think there is a lot of talented youngsters out there who we haven't seen before," Bernard added.

Players between the age of 16-25 are eligible to take part in the trials. The recruitment drive will be held under the guidance of the JNA selection committee, as well as a number of national coaches.