Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

A confident Jamaican team will begin their defence of the Jean Pierre Caribbean Under-16 Netball Championships today, when they oppose Dominica in the opening match at the Leila Robinson Courts, starting at 6 p.m.

In the day's other games, Cayman Islands face Guyana at 6:15 p.m. and former champions Barbados battle St Lucia at 6:45 p.m.

"We are very confident that we can retain our title, especially playing at home, because we know that we will have our Jamaican supporters behind us and this will help to motivate the team a lot," said Joan Cargill, coach of Jamaica's team.

The Jamaicans, who are seeking their third consecutive hold on the title, have won the competition on seven out of eight occasions since its inception.

financial difficulties

The junior Sunshine Girls were originally scheduled to play Antigua and Barbuda in their opening match. However, the Antiguans pulled out of the tournament yesterday because of financial difficulties.

Cargill added that the team's preparation has been going according to plan and the players are ready and raring to go.

"We have been training very hard because they have been involved in a number of practice games against the national Under-21 team, but we are going to take this competition one game at a time," she said.

Jamaica defeated Barbados to win last year's tournament, which was staged in Antigua and Barbuda, and have retained six players from last year's team.

Top goal shooter

Among them are 15-year-old, 6'9" goal shooter Marvadeen Anderson, who was the top goal shooter at the last tournament. The other players are captain Shereesha Richards, Deneen Taylor, Ashley Henry, Shanique Miller and Shanice Lee.

Anderson, who attends Edwin Allen High School, said she is very confident that the Jamaicans can retain their title.

"I definitely think that we are going to win this year's Caribbean Under-16 competition, because we have been putting a lot of hard work in training and the girls are ready and raring to go," said Anderson, who turns 16 on May 1.

Meanwhile, the Dominicans, along with Guyana and members of the Trinidad and Tobago team, arrived in the island yesterday.

Jennifer Nanton, coach of Dominica, said she is expecting a difficult match with the Jamaicans. "We are expecting to do our best because we know that the Jamaicans are a very strong team and it is going to be hard to beat them," she said.

Nanton added that her team placed eighth in last year's tournament and they are now hoping to do a lot better on this occasion.

"We want to come at least in the top four, but we know it is going to be very tough for us because all the other teams are very strong," Nanton said.