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JOA rewards netballers, coach with money
August 29, 2023
Coach Connie Francis and her Sunshine Girls players will be rewarded by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) and private sector entities for their bronze-medal performance at the recently concluded Netball World in Cape Town, South Africa.
President of the JOA, Christopher Samuda, announced yesterday that each team member would receive $1 million from a Supreme Ventures Limited and Mayberry Investment joint account, while Francis will get $2 million. The $13 million reward will go towards funding investment accounts at Mayberry for each medallist.
The gift is for their resilience on African soil, as Jamaica copped their first medal at the championships since 2007.
Samuda shared that the donation is secondary to Jamaica's adoration for the netball players.
"The JOA's respect for and admiration of our member, Netball Jamaica, its coaches and the Sunshine Girls, go beyond the monetary digits of our expression of gratitude. Before the numbers, the quantitative measure comes the qualitative value, emblematic of character, an indomitable spirit, an inspired mind and hands that grasped and distributed that moving ball with the integrity of play," Samuda explained.
Samuda added that the Sunshine Girls' performance earlier this month showed personality, which earned them more fans across the globe. The president stated that the performance was bronze for the world but was gold to the JOA.
"The grit and valour which our Sunshine Girls displayed on the world stage in South Africa earned them many fans in Cape Town and the global grandstand and bleachers of the sport and were not only exemplary of how the game should be played but also the stature of victory.
"It was bronze in the land of Nelson Mandela, but for us, at the JOA, it is gold in the land of Norman Washington Manley, reportedly the first president of Jamaica's Olympic Movement," Samuda said.
Sunshine Girl Latanya Wilson also received $1 million without featuring at the Netball World Cup. The money is geared towards helping her recover from a fire that torched her home on Rum Lane in downtown Kingston last week. President Samuda stated that the gesture was to give the 22-year-old an opportunity for a better life in a different environment.
"We recognise that our sportsmen and women will occasionally encounter difficult times. These are difficult times for her, and we thought it best to come to her aid to ensure she has another opportunity for a better life.
"We are hoping that she can move into a new home in a new environment that will be encouraging for her and her family," Samuda cited.
