By Carlena Knight
President of the Antigua and Barbuda Netball Association (ABNA), Karen Joseph, believes that the schools’ netball program must play a key role in the upward mobility of the sport in the country.
Joseph who was speaking recently on the Good Morning JoJo Sports show, said that that must be a joint effort between the Ministry of Sports and the local netball association, if this development will happen.
“It has to be a joint effort. It cannot continue the way it is now, because at the end of the day, netball is my passion and I see that we need help from that end coming up. We are willing to work with them, and we are going to go into the communities as well, but it has to start from the schools,” Joseph said.
The former national player also spoke about the lack of proper facilities.
This is something that Joseph has been championing for some time now, as according to her, “we cannot want to play on that level and continue to play on asphalt.”
She previously cited a joint venture with using the court at the volleyball facility at the YMCA Sports Complex and even called for the construction of a similar structure for netball at the complex.
“We have been advocating for that for years now. We cannot continue training and going to competitions at that kind of level playing on asphalt. It causes injuries, and until we get to that level where we understand that this is where we need to go, then we are going to be doomed,” she added.
Efforts are however already being put in place to aid in the continued development of the sport.
Joseph revealed that she has sought to gain technical support from the world governing body, AFNA (Americas Federation of Netball Associations).
She has written to the newly-elected president, Bridget Adams, in the hopes of the body assisting with the training of coaches and umpires to bring them up to date with the new standards of the game.
This she says, will help to bring the level of competition in the local competitions higher.
Joseph was speaking following her return from the recently-concluded Netball Americas World Cup Qualifiers held in Jamaica where the senior women’s netball team finished with a losing record.