Netball Jamaica presses for sponsor-funded strength coach ahead of Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Sasher-Gaye Henry-Wright, who leads Jamaica's senior netball programme, is urging sponsors to come forward so the association can bring on a strength-and-conditioning specialist while preparations swing toward the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, running 23 July through 2 August.

She says limited money to retain a dedicated fitness hire leaves a serious gap, arguing that peak physical readiness will weigh heavily on outcomes when the championships arrive.

"It is a disappointment that we don't have a strength-and-conditioning coach due to financial constraints, but we are hoping that somebody will chip in and provide that support for our girls. It is an area that we need a lot of work on," said Henry-Wright.

"We definitely need a fitness-and-conditioning coach right now, and I am not sure if the association is able to come up with that person yet because of lack of funds and they are not able to fund due to financial constraints."

"It is a crisis for us here now at the start of our training sessions, and so we are hoping that we will get somebody to assist us in helping to cover the cost for this person for the period up to the Commonwealth Games and then we will fix ourselves after that to see what will happen," she said.

Training is already under way for the Sunshine Girls, and a share of the roster is logging court time in Netball Jamaica's Divisional Leagues while the Elite League waits in the wings — competition Henry-Wright treats as part of the same Glasgow runway.

"The girls are now in preparation mode because apart from being in training, they are also playing in Netball Jamaica's Divisional Leagues, and they will be playing in the Elite League soon, which is part of the preparations," Henry-Wright added. "We have a limited number of girls in training now, but the focus is good, and limitations really help sometimes in terms of targeting individual players' needs."

The squad hopes to move forward from the silver earned at the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham four years earlier.

Henry-Wright said the target is another podium trip this summer and, ideally, a stronger showing than last time.

"These girls have been doing well over the years because we won a silver medal at the last Commonwealth Games, and so we are definitely looking forward to good standings at this year's championships," she stated.

"We definitely want to be on the medal podium, but it is going to be hard, and it is going to take a lot of hard work to achieve that goal. It is really a big impediment to the preparations for us not to have a strength-and-conditioning coach right now."

She also stressed roster depth, pairing seasoned internationals with younger athletes she expects to carry more responsibility.

"We have a very talented squad of players. We have a number of senior players like Shanice Beckford, Khadijah Williams, and Nicole Rochester, along with some of the new ones — Abigail Sutherland, Kimone Shaw, Paula-Ann Burton, Gizelle Allison, and Crystal Plummer —- and so we are looking forward to great things from these girls," Henry-Wright said. "You know that we also have overseas-based players to come in as well for us."