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Sunshine Girls, SPAR Proteas shooting for glory
January 17, 2025
Head coach of Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, Sasher-Gaye Henry, shared that the number three ranked Jamaica team is in high spirits ahead of their first match against reigning African champions and number five ranked opponents South Africa in the upcoming Test of the Margaret Beckford Series.
The opening encounter of the three-Test series is set for the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) on Saturday, with match time slated for 6 p.m. Other matchdays are Wednesday (22nd) and Saturday (25th).
All the matches will be preceded by the Under-21 matches between both countries, with Saturday's Under-21 encounter scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
For the senior matchup, Henry said: "I think the girls are pretty confident and with the fact that we've done so well against England they're using some of that confidence."
In the previous series, Jamaica played four matches against England, two in Manchester and the others at the NISC. They tied the first match in England 49-49 and lost the second 59-47, before rallying strongly before their home fans to take both matches at home and claim the tense and closely fought Vitality Horizon Series 2-1.
On home turf Jamaica won one match by one point (50-49) and the final game 61-53 with the fans bringing much energy.
The Sunshine Girls and England's Vitality Roses are more familiar with each other, having played regularly and swapping the number three and four world rankings in years. Henry noted that South Africa will be a different kettle of fish.
"(This) is a whole different team and they'll come with different strengths and weaknesses," she stated.
According to Henry, in their most recent series the Sunshine Girls showed resilience and said she hoped that they will carry over that form against a team that is in form.
"The fact that they were very mentally tough and resilient, against England, is something that we really want to continue to work on as a group. It's going to be a tough and competitive series and we also want to see how our different combinations will work," Henry said.
One combination that will surely be different is in the shooting circle, where Romelda Aiken-George, who literally laid her body on the line while leading Jamaica in scoring against England, is not in this squad, having agreed to play the England series before returning to Australia where she is based. So the very experienced and skilful goal attack, Shanice Beckford, who is also an outstanding shooter, will have a new partner in the shooting arc, Shimona Jok.
Regular top shooter and captain, Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, is pregnant and also missed the England series so the shooting combination is one that the Sunshine Girls have not used frequently or recently. This also impacts mid-court, where English recruit Rhea Dixon has proven to be a good addition to the attacking combinations with her positioning, range of passing and composed play.
Beckford is the team's vice captain and star defender Shamera Sterling-Humphrey, the world's best defender, is the team's captain and will help in making things difficult for the South Africans.
Known as the SPAR Proteas, the South Africans arrived in the island on Saturday night and have been preparing since. Jennifer Van Dyk, their head coach, explained that her team is on Jamaican soil to win the series.
"It's actually a very important series for us. Jamaica is currently ranked third and that's what we need, that competitiveness and we expect that. We know they're a very strong team but we're here to win and give our best," Van Dyk said.
The SPAR Proteas and the Sunshine Girls have played each other 18 times, with the SPAR Proteas winning three times, most notably at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, in 2019, where the South Africans won 55-52 to earn a spot in the semi-finals.
Van Dyk says she tuned in to the Sunshine Girls' recent series and will be looking to execute plans based on their assessment.
"We've identified a lot of areas and obviously one of the main thing that stands out is that the number one and two shooters are out with injuries. We know on the defensive end that's where the trouble is as we've studied them a lot and we have a couple of plans up our sleeves to make sure that we can counter it," she told STAR Sports.
In an interview with their local newspaper Tuang Daily News, van Dyk expressed having experience in the Caribbean atmosphere.
"It's my biggest challenge since taking over as coach," she noted. "It's always tough playing in the Caribbean, but I went to the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023, so I am used to that kind of atmosphere."
For the opening matchup, Jamaica and South Africa's under-21 teams are preparing ahead of the Netball World Cup later this year in Gibraltar, and are expected to put on an exciting showing.
