Former players want better netball facilities

One former national netball player has asked the government to give consideration to the construction of an indoor facility capable of hosting competitive netball matches.
Former wing-attack, Harriet Destin, said players are left at a disadvantage when playing outside of Antigua as many countries have now moved towards indoor facilities.
“When we play here, we play at the YMCA and outdoors but when we
travel most of the tournaments are held inside and it
puts us at a disadvantage because sometimes our bodies are not acclimatised and we have breathing problems and different things so they need to invest in an indoor facility,” she said. 
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Netball Association (ABNA) and former national goal shoot, Karen Joseph, supported Destin’s call, adding that when undertaking construction, like the one ongoing in the Gray’s Farm area, those in authority must think outside the box.
“It can be used because you can reverse the basketball court into a netball court. But we need to be proactive because if you are going to build an indoor court for basketball at King George then do it, so you can play netball at the same time. We tend to say with our mouths that we love sports in Antigua but we don’t love sports in Antigua. We just talk sports but we don’t love no sport,” she said.
Netball at the association level is set to make a return in February of next year following years of dormancy.
Joseph hopes to see Antigua and Barbuda make its return to the regional and international levels in 2018.