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Sunshine Girls undaunted by theft
July 28, 2023
National senior netball head coach Connie Francis is determined to prevent the security breach at the Sunshine Girls' hotel, to distract them from their ultimate goal of a deep tournament run at the Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa.
Francis wants to use their opening match against Sri Lanka on Friday to set the tone for the rest of the tournament, but is faced with dealing with the circumstances of a security breach early in the final phase of their preparations.
Francis confirmed captain Jhaniele Fowler's claim of money being stolen from her purse while they were at training. Francis said Rebecca Robinson was also a theft victim, but a similar situation happened to another participating country.
She also confirmed attempts to break into players' rooms, but said these were not made on members of the Sunshine Girls.
According to Francis, she is concerned by the events, but said the players are determined not to be distracted from their ultimate goal.
"When it happened, I was a bit scared. When you see the security detail on the floor, it is kind of scary. I'm like, I feel safer back home," Francis told STAR Sports. "I can tell you that we have been assured how to keep ourselves safe. We put it behind us because we know the real focus, and we are not letting it daunt our spirit."
Manager Karlene Waugh said security has been increased for Jamaica, with World Netball calling the incident unacceptable.
That spirit is what Francis is encouraged by, as they have set high standards for themselves and are determined to reach these objectives.
"We set goals for them, but they also set themselves reaching goals, and that is the aim - how can we go deeper into this tournament and really be the force that everybody is saying we are?" she said.
She said although intending to take the tournament a game at a time, they want to make sure they execute at a high level, with Wales to come on Saturday and hosts South Africa on Sunday, the latter being their first big test of the tournament.
