Photo: Members of the Sunshine Girls along with coach Minneth Reynolds, Technical Director Jill McIntosh, President of Netball Jamaica Marva Bernabrd and Minister with responsibility for Sports Natalie Neita-Headley pose on the newly laid surface at the Leila Robinson Courts yesterday.
The newly refurbished Lelia Robinson Netball Courts were reopened at the Independence Park in Kingston Jamaica on Thursday August 7th, only a day after the National team – the Sunshine Girls- returned from the Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow Scotland, where they had a podium finish for the first time in twelve years.
The Sunshine Girls beat England 52-48 in the third place play-off to grab the Bronze medal after losing to them at the same stage in the previous two games.
The refurbishing of the courts was funded by the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) to the tune of $23M.
Minister with responsibility for Sports Natalie Neita-Headley who spoke at the reopening said “I am pleased to be here at the opening of the courts as we kept our commitment of improving and building sports in Jamaica, in this case the refurbishing of the Leila Robinson Netball Courts.”
Marva Bernard who has been at the helm of Netball Jamaica since December 2005 was overjoyed at the latest development in the sport. “I can’t thank the Prime Minister enough, who with and through her efforts has made this day possible.
“The support of our Minister (Natalie Neita-Headley), through the Sports Development Foundation has been resounding as we are able to see actual dreams come true and anticipate the continuous progression that is to come in netball.”
Major Desmon Brown General Manager of Independence Park Jamaica Limited told Yardie Sports.
“It is a step in the right direction because these are the development courts where we develop our elite athletes. Also these are all-weather courts and this will lead to less cancellation of games when it rains because the previous courts got slippery when it rained and this was dangerous for the players.”
The next phase of development will be the replacement of the wooden stands where fans now currently sit. Dr. Warren Blake, the chairman of the SDF announced that “the contract has already been signed and the stands have already been ordered so we will be back here again soon.”
An exhibition game between the National Under-16 team and Gaynstead High School was played to officially open the courts, with the U16 coming away 7-5 winners.
Co-captain of the Under-16 team Simone Gordon, a student at the Queens School, who played in the game said “I am happy, I am very excited that they took a chance to fix it, that is a big step. I am very thrilled with what is happening in the sport at the moment and I hope that there will be bigger and better things to come.
The synthetic tiles that have been laid are easily replaceable and can used for advertising by potential sponsors.
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