By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda will be represented by an all-male netball team when Fly Ballers compete at the inaugural Americas Netball Men’s Championship scheduled for August 31 to September 5 at the Arnos Vale hard courts in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).
The squad, which is currently in preparation under the watchful eyes of former national women’s player, Candace Jones, won the men’s division of the recently held national league put on by the Antigua and Barbuda Netball Association (ABNA).
One member of the team, Raenor Sharpe, said they have received the full blessings of the association.
“As you may know, Antigua currently doesn’t have a male netball team but Fly Ballers Netball Club was able to secure the victory in the recently concluded cub league and by virtue of that our president, Miss Karen Joseph, gave us the blessing and the go ahead to represent Antigua and Barbuda and we are ecstatic about that,” he said.
Sharpe, who is attending school in Guyana, said the sport offers relief from the stresses of academic life.
“I am a final year student at the University of Guyana, so I had to travel back recently for school, but I am back now to jell with the team. But while I was in Guyana I was doing my thing on my own so it has been amazing so far. It’s an avenue of release for me because you know school is tense; it’s tough and it’s excellent to find a way that I can de-stress and netball is just that for me,” he said.
Dwight Peters, an executive member of the Fly Ballers outfit, explained how they became aware of the tournament.
“While we practice she would normally post videos on Facebook and she was notified by the president who is hosting the tournament in St Vincent and from there she gave us an invitation,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda will compete against Grenada, Jamaica, South Africa and hosts SVG.
The team’s participation is being funded by platinum sponsor Go To Enterprises and gold sponsors State Insurance, Cool & Smooth and Townhouse Furnishings.