Excelsior, Holmwood eager for AFNA Champs

With just over month to go before the start of the inaugural staging of the Americas Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) 2018 Champion of Champions High Schools Netball Tournament, Jamaica's representatives Excelsior High and Holmwood Technical have intensified their preparations ahead of the games.

The countries that will be represented at this year's championships are Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The competition, which will see 12 high school teams from across the region participating, will be held from July 15th to 21st.

Christopher Smart, coach of the Excelsior, who are the reining ISSA/All Island champions, said the presents opportunity for his players to showcase their skills on the international stage.

"It is going to give our girls a lot of exposure because this is not just national now, we are talking about regional and so we anticipate that there will be exposure for our girls," said Smart.

"We have a lot of character and we have a lot of quality players and we are the all island champions. So over the exams break we are going to put our girls into a camp to see how best we can get them ready for this competition," Smart said.

Meanwhile, Carline Graham-Powell, coach of Holmwood, who was beaten by Excelsior in this year's all-island final, said her team is looking forward to the championships.

"It is extremely important to us because we have been winning the all island championships for so many years, people tend to become a bit complacent and having this tournament to look forward to is really excellent for us," said Graham-Powell.

"It is also going to give us an extra push and that is something that the students are looking forward to," she said. "We have been training because, at Holmwood, netball is a way of life. We are never out of training and at this time we are participating in the Clarendon League. That is something that is giving us proper match practice," Graham-Powell said.