Bernard

Marva Bernard, president of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA), believes with a bit more financial support from corporate companies, the junior Sunshine Girls could have won gold at the World Youth Netball Championships in the Cook Islands.

Jamaica captured the bronze medal by defeating arch-rivals England 84-42 in the third-place playoff. Australia won the gold medal by defeating defending champions New Zealand in the final.

"We continue to look good but we just need a little more help to be able to jump over the hurdles of big competitions like this," Bernard said in an interview with The Gleaner.

"We do not get a lot of match practice at the highest level because of affordability," she added.

"I know that we are a struggling third world country, but I still believe that if we had got some more financial help we could have won the gold medal."

Bernard added that the girls have proven that they are top class, picking themselves up after a demoralising loss to New Zealand in the semi-final, to beat England for the bronze medal.

"They decided that they were going to beat England and they went out there and they did it and I am very proud of them, because I knew how devastated they were when we lost to New Zealand," Bernard said.

Bernard added that the future of netball is in good hands and is very confident that these girls can now go on to represent the country at the senior level.

"The future of the netball is very bright but we now need to see how we can garner some more financial support as to give these girls the kind of opportunities that top countries have," she said.