By Neto Baptiste
Veteran netball player and national shooter Amey Lake believes experience could play a major role in the senior team’s success at this year’s Netball World Cup Qualifiers slated for October 15-22 in Jamaica.
Lake was selected alongside other stalwarts like Seymone Parkes and Patara Davis in a 12-member team to fly the country’s flag at the qualifiers, as they seek to get into the Netball World Cup slated for Cape Town, South Africa from July 28 to August 6 next year.
“This is one of the biggest tournaments we’ve even been to so … it needs that blend of experience and youth in the team … the ones guiding the youths. Even though the coach would have been able to try and get some things along, sometimes it is easier coming from an experienced person saying to the player that you need to do this; I think the experience is just as good,” she said.
The goal shoot and goal attack, who has been playing competitively for over 30 years, said one of the biggest challenges will be adjusting to the many rule changes the game has seen since over the past 10 years, chief among them being the contact rule.
“We learnt that mostly when we went to Dominica and somebody pushed us and we would look around, asking where is our call or where is our contact? Our defenses weren’t used to the same thing so they were mostly playing off so it really was a challenge to transition and I think that is one of the challenges the coach, Lisa, is having now with us. She would tell us go and feel that person underneath of you — but we are so accustomed of marking from a little distance off — but she is insisting to go up to the person and lean on the person,” she said.
“We actually watched the Commonwealth Games the other day and we were surprised of the physicality of it because they were literally knocking down people and going about your business and there wasn’t a call,” Lake added.
Another seasoned player, Patara Davis, is buoyed by the change in attitude she has seen since the arrival of England-based coach, Lisa Smith.
“To be honest, I have seen a big change, in our mindset, our discipline, especially because she [Lisa Smith] does not play at all. Back then we would get away with a lot because we would be fighting for the team, but this time it is a different outcome where we are actually not fighting to keep the team together. It’s either we push for it or it’s not going to happen at all and we want to team so we have to work for it,” she said.
Full Squad: Seymone Parkes, Amey Lake, Patara Davis, Jamila Fitz, Tashana Bloomfield, Sanchez Martin, Shermaine Reifer, Sharifa Simmons, Kianna Simmons, Tanya Green, Laureen Lockhart,and Saska Diamond.
