Marva Bernard. - File

Marva Bernard, president of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) said her association was in full support of the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) decision to host the first- ever World Netball Series, which will be held in Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England, from October 9-11.

"It is a very good move because IFNA only has events traditionally at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games every four years for seniors, and whenever there is no world champs, the seniors don't get a chance to showcase in terms of an event that the international body has," said Bernard, who is the director for finance at IFNA.

The series will feature six of world's top-rated teams, competing under a new system with innovative rule changes for a faster, television-friendly spectacle.

Competiting countries

The competing countries are New Zealand, Australia, England, Jamaica, Samoa and Malawi.

Each game will be played over four six-minute quarters, which is a departure from a standard netball contest with 15-minute quarters.

"It will give us top-class competition which is not going to be expensive for us and we are going to make full use of this opportunity to improve ourselves," she said.

Bernard added that the event would also help to generate revenue for each of the associations and give the players a chance to showcase their talent every year on the international stage.

"It will be good for our girls to be constantly playing top-class competition, which is something that is new and different. It is also going to mean that we can afford to go because some of the expense will be taken care of by the international body," she noted.

No impact on ranking

She also said the series would not affect the rankings system and stated the reason for having shortened games.

"This is not a series for rankings. Ranking is not going to be affected by it," Bernard explained.

"It is also going to be television-friendly, because it will be short and snappy and they are also amending some of the rules to make it exciting and the clothes that the girls wear will also be new and different," she said.