By Neto Baptiste
The country’s senior netballers have received commendations from president and coach, Karen Joseph, following their second place finish in the Battle of the Saints Tournament in St. Maarten last weekend.
Team Antigua and Barbuda won four and lost two of their six encounters at the ranking tournament, losing to the Cayman Islands on both occasions.
According to Joseph however, the team performed extremely well, sending a message to the rest of the region that the game is making progress here in Antigua.
“We are a force to be reckoned with, and Antigua must realise that Antigua netball is getting back on the right track. We played our best, and in the first match, when we lost, the distance in terms of the score was bad, but at least we capitalised on the second game and they beat us by four or five,” he said.
“The girls, I could not desire better from the team, the camaraderie, the play; and as I said, Antigua netball is a force to be reckoned with right now and we will get there, we are going there,” he added.
Antigua and Barbuda twice had wins over St. Maarten and St. Kitts for their profitable finish in the tournament.
Joseph, who doubled as the team’s coach, said she was forced to take on the role after plans to take on a coach from outside of Antigua did not materialise in time.
“We didn’t have anybody so I had to step up to the plate. We were trying to get a coach from overseas, but things were not falling into place like it should have, so I made sure I was there every night to make sure the girls were in place. We have a trainer in Carl Casey, and so big shout-out to Casey because he is awesome, and the girls have never been so fit in a long time. They didn’t even want to come off the court at half-time because they were so fit; but I am saying to the public now that the job is there to be done, I am getting it done so if somebody has a problem with it then deal with it,” he said.
The Association will now turn to the hosting of its village league competition which is slated to start in the coming weeks.