By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda’s strength will be in defense when the twin-island state competes in the Netball World Cup Qualifiers slated for October 15-22 in Jamaica.
This is according to head coach, Lisa Smith, who said that although there are some talented players who will not make the final cut, an “awesome defense unit” emerged during training sessions and that it could be the team’s strong suit during what is expected to be a highly competitive qualifiers.
“I’ve got two very young players in the team who are progressing really well but are just not ready for this level of competition, so that was a difficult conversation if I am being honest. They are very dedicated and will, one day, be the future of this island’s team and they are going to be fantastic players, both of them,” she said.
“I am going heavily with defense because we’ve got a very awesome defense unit, they went straight on my list. I unfortunately lost one of the center court players with a very bad knee and ACL tear, so I’ve had to juggle a few things,” she added.
Smith, who lives in England but agreed to lead the team into the forthcoming qualifiers, said she has also seen tremendous improvements in other areas that could improve the team’s chances of doing well.
“Fitness has been the biggest improvement and it was one of my biggest fears when I first came here and five days per week for the last six weeks we’ve certainly improved their fitness and structure in the game as well. We’ve [also] put in a lot of the set plays and structure that the girls have adapted to really quickly,” the coach said.
On the flipside, however, Smith shared concerns over a number of injuries to some key players.
“We’ve had a little bit of a delay where we’ve had a couple of quite serious injuries with the girls, so we’ve had to do a bit of a change-around with the team selection. It’s going really well and all credit to those girls because they are turning up, they are dedicated and we’ve got them coming on time now as well. One even turned up [Wednesday night] when it was a rest day, so it’s going really well and I cannot fault their dedication,” she said.
The senior national team is slated to be announced this week.