By Neto Baptiste
The newly appointed head coach of the Antigua and Barbuda senior netball team, Lisa Smith, wants each player to give 100 percent in every scenario.
Her statement comes as she prepares Antigua and Barbuda for the Netball World Cup Qualifiers slated for October 15-22 in Jamaica and, according the England-based coach, although it may be a difficult tournament, players must ensure they are able to walk away with pride after every match.
“I want us to walk away knowing that everybody put in 100 percent, get out everything that they put in and I want to see us have some results against some of those teams. I can’t promise we are going to beat the Jamaicans — although we would love to one day — but I want to put up a good fight. I want to walk away knowing I can shake hands with the other coach knowing that we did our absolute best on court,” she said.
Smith explained, however, that it would take some time in getting to know all the players, but believes there is talent in the pool she is currently working with.
“Well, I’ve done one training session so far, and I think some of the girls have got some great talent there. What we need to work on now is more team unity and team set-plays, and really work on our squad appreciation of everybody, knowing that I could put anybody on court at any moment and they all can do the same kind of job,” the coach said.
In May this year, President of the Antigua and Barbuda Netball Association (ABNA) Karen Joseph revealed that the body needed to raise $100,000 in order to fund their trip to Jamaica.
Second Vice-president Vincere Barthley said the association has been engaging in a number of fundraisers, adding that they have also appealed to the business community.
“Because $80,000 is a lot of money when you’re going out there and asking persons to sponsor, we have sent letters to corporate citizens and organisations — what you call ‘sponsoring one’ — where we are looking for a total of $4,500 to sponsor a player. That will include travel, accommodation, meals, uniforms … so we’ve sent those letters out and we are just waiting for feedback,” she said. Members of the association and the senior team will be in Barbuda from August 13-14 for fundraising efforts, which include a fitness challenge and domino competition.