By:Curtis Morton
Miss Vera Herbert, who is the President of the Nevis Netball Association and Vice President of the St. Kitts and Nevis Netball Association, recently reported in an exclusive interview with Ramie Gumbs, on the St. Kitts-Nevis under 21 team’s performance in the AFNA qualifiers, held in St. Maarten.
The tournament which was held between the 22nd to 28th August, saw some seven teams participating and the overall placements were as follows:
1st Place and champions and going undefeated-Barbados
2nd-Trinidad and Tobago
3rd Grenada
4th St. Kitts and Nevis
5th Canada
6th St. Maarten
7th Argentina
According to Miss Herbert, the finals was a super matchup between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of the first quarter, Barbados led by two goals. At the end of the first half, Barbados was still leading, this time by eight goals. However, at the end of the third quarter, Trinidad and Tobago was leading by two goals and at the end of the final quarter, Barbados won by a nail biting two goals.
She however pointed out that the games were obviously not well advertised and were therefore very poorly attended.
The St. Kitts and Nevis team barely missed out on qualifying for the next round as only the top three teams will move on to the under 21 world tournament slated for Botswana in 2017.
She stated that the St. Kitts –Nevis girls played well generally and that, in spite of a number of injuries suffered by some of the young ladies.
She praised the quality of accommodation provided at the Simpson Bay resort and recommended the resort to all visitors to the island.
Prior to the tournament, an annual general meeting was held in ST. Maarten for the AFNA officials and representing St. Kitts and Nevis, were: Miss Vera Herbert; Ms. Juliet Hanley-President of the ST. Kitts Netball Association and Mr. Dion French -President of the ST. Kitts-Nevis Netball Association.
Going forward, the St. Kitts and Nevis seniors team, which will feature women 23 years and older, is currently preparing for an AFNA seniors’ tournament slated for St. Maarten in October.
According to Miss Herbert, St. Kitts and Nevis will engage in three practice matches, which will serve to determine the selection of the final squad