Cash crisis hits netballers

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Deneen Taylor ... has been invited to train with the national under-21 netball squad. Taylor was named the most valuable player at the recent Jean Pierre Under-16 Caribbean Netball Championships.

Lack of adequate financing has forced national under-21 netball coach, C. Lloyd Walker, to scale down his squad's preparation for the World Youth Netball Championships (WYNC).

"We have been having a number of weekend camps, as opposed to our normal training days which are Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, but we do not have any money for food and transportation for this lengthy period," Walker said in an interview with The Gleaner.

Walker appealed to corporate Jamaica and other well-wishers for help to prepare the team for the WYNC which will be held in the Cook Islands from August 6 to 22.

"We know that in this current global economic climate, it is going to be difficult for people to offer financial assistance but we will gratefully accept any help we can get," Walker noted.

Walker also stated that he has invited six members from the Under-16 team that won the Caribbean Championships last month to train with the team. They include, 6' 10" goal shooter Mavadean Anderson, Deneen Taylor, the most valuable player of the championships, and captain Shereesha Richards.

"We want to give these younger players a chance to challenge for a spot on this team. I think that they are very talented and if they don't make it on this occasion then they will still have the age for the next championships," Walker added.

The junior Sunshine Girls, who finished fourth in the last tournament in Florida, are drawn in Pool D of the championships alongside Malawi, Singapore and Papua New Guinea.

robert.bailey@gleanerjm.com