By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda will be without two of its more experienced players for this month’s ECCB International Netball Series slated to shoot off on September 29.
This was revealed by President of the Antigua and Barbuda Netball Association (ABNA) and a member of the coaching team, Karen Joseph, who said goal attack Amey Lake and wing attack Seymone Parkes, both veterans, will miss the tournament.
“Seymone Parkes not playing, Amey Lake not playing, so we have incorporated some younger players in the team. Honestly, I will miss them tremendously because sometimes age does well when you need a player with head in the game but as I said, we have some young players in the squad training,” she said.
Despite the unavailability of the two top players and injuries to other key players, Joseph is hoping for an improved showing from last year’s third place finish.
“We have had some issues with one or two of the top players who have knee injuries and they have been going to therapy, but I am confident of us having a good showing this year. We are aiming for the top three in the tournament. We were third place last year in Dominica and I know the girls are pushing hard and especially with us hosting here in Antigua, because playing here with Antigua’s crowd is a cruel thing [but] they are hyped and they are ready and confident they will do well,” the former player said.
Nine teams including hosts Antigua and Barbuda, will play in the round-robin formatted tournament slated to climax on October 8. Teams will also have the opportunity to collect valuable ranking points during the tournament.
Joseph commended the 14th ranked Barbados team for agreeing to take part in the tournament for a second straight year.
“They are not in the OECS but Barbados has been coming for the past two years. Last year they were in Dominica and because of the high rankings of Barbados they help to increase the ranking of the tournament and that’s a plus for us. I must commend Barbados because usually, you don’t find those teams want to take part and Barbados was there last year and now we have Cayman Islands and I am really pleased with them trying to help the OECS countries. I remember at one time Antigua was ninth in the world and we are striving to get there,” the netball boss said.
The other teams taking part in the tournament are defending champions St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, Dominica, Cayman Islands, and Montserrat.