Francis

Connie Francis, coach of the Jamaica's Sunshine Girls, is confident her team will win the World Series Fast Net Championships, which will be held in Manchester, England, from October 9 to 11.

"I think this one favours us because we are accustomed to playing short games," said Francis, in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday.

"We play rallies here at the beginning of our netball season and I think we are equipped for it and we are mentally and physically ready for it."

The Fast Net Championships is a new initiative by the International Federation Netball Association (IFNA) to increase the profile of the sport globally.

The tournament will be contested by the top six teams in the world, using a brand new set of rules. Each match promises to be fast and games will be played over four six-minute quarters.

Feeling confident

"The girls are very confident because all our players are used to playing these types of games on a regular basis and are used to playing more than one game in a day," Francis pointed out.

"I think we are able to play well in short games and we struggle during the longer version of the game, but so far we have done extremely well in our simulation games we have played in," said Francis.

The other participating teams are England, Australia, New Zealand, Malawi and Samoa. Francis, a former national captain and top shooter, views all the opponents as strong contenders.

"I think all the teams are a threat to us ... we are not going there to overlook anybody," Francis noted. "These games are going to be short and I think it may come down to the team that makes the least mistakes."

Francis added that the girls have prepared well for this tournament and are excited.

Multi-talented team

"I think this team is multi-talented because we have several players we can use in various positions and they are quite confident they will be able to win this championship and I am also confident in them," Francis said.

The Sunshine Girls are scheduled to leave the island next Wednesday for the championships.

The Jamaica team, which will be captained by Simone Forbes, includes one new player, Nordia Hanson.

The squad also includes four members of the Under-21 side which won the bronze medal at the World Youth Championships in the Cook Islands last month. They are Vanessa Walker, Crystal Gordon, Malysha Kelly and Sateva Taylor.

The squad is completed by Romelda Aiken, Nadine Bryan, Nichala Gibson, Sasher-Gaye Henry, Nicole Aiken, Althea Byfield and Paula Thompson.