What an experience! Barbados
was everything you would expect from a Caribbean Island; sun,
sea, sand and NETBALL too! Our Tour was very well organised by
Titan Sports Group Ltd who also looked after us out in Barbados.
Fundraising by the girls and some generous sponsorship helped
towards the costs of the tour for which we are sincerely grateful,
see below for the list of our vital sponsors. Temperatures were
in the low 90s with high humidity but there was usually a cool
breeze. We were therefore particularly grateful to Winston Sports
who had sourced a special breathable fabric for our dresses which
makes them cool in hot weather and warm in the British cold
Anita, Maurice and Michelle accompanied a group of 17 girls
from the U17 and U19 age groups. Our two teams were promoted
from the Schools’ Summerfest to the high standard Division
1 Club friendly matches after the Barbados organisers asked England
Netball for guidance as to the standard of Telstars.
The colourful Opening Ceremony, held in the hottest part of
the day, was in the style of the Olympics with marching, dignitaries,
Bajun dancing and steel band music. Suubi even won a prize for
her dancing! The tournament was played at the Barbados Netball
Stadium (4 courts, floodlit with seating) with games in the early
morning or at 6.30pm at night with fantastic sunsets against
the palm trees. Our two teams played five games each spread over
the fortnight and at each game we exchanged specially designed
Telstars rosettes with keyrings from our opponents. The organisation
of the netball was very professional with team line-ups, team
sheets, official scorers at each game and umpires always in all
white. Our leather netballs were very much coveted by the local
teams who play with cheaper plastic balls. We came to realise
how well off we were compared to many island clubs and girls.
Both Telstars teams went on to win all their games convincingly
but because the games were friendly there was no overall winner.
The organisers did however present us with a prestigious award
for ‘The Best Touring Side 2004’. We were also presented
with a ‘Participating Shield’ and Hannah Perrett
and Kate Wright were given ‘Most Valued Player Awards’.
Amie Isham won a return Virgin Air flight to Barbados in the
Shooting Competition!
After our second game, the umpire, a Barbados national player,
was so impressed with our standard that she invited us to play
the National U21 and U16 sides. The style of netball in the Caribbean
is very different and there are limited opportunities to play
a variety of high standard opposition due to the expense of travelling.
Their style of netball is elevated, flighty and based more on
high balls and agility than fast, hard direct passing with lots
of movement off the ball. We had the opportunity of training
with the National U21 Squad before our game. Our entire squad
played in the game, which was a great experience, and we lost
by only six goals! Sadly the U16 game had to be cancelled due
to a huge thunderstorm.
Apart from the netball we also went on a wide range of excursions
offered by Titan. These included feeding fish and swimming with
turtles in a beautiful bay, watersports at the ‘Boatyard’, ‘Harbourlights’-
a nightclub dug out of the beach with a below ground dancefloor,
visiting limestone caves and an Island Safari - a 4x4 ride through
deep mud, water, steep hills and tropical forests!
This was the experience of a lifetime which the girls and Anita
and Maurice are still talking about and will remember forever.
We also must thank the parents’ organising committee members
who were Anne-Marie O’Sullivan, Ruth Exeter, Karen and
Steve Lucas.
We thank our Sponsors:
|
Smiths Packaging » Squad Dresses |
|
Sahara Display Ltd Travel » T
Shirts & Hoodies |
|
Grayline Services Ltd » Tour
Bags |
|
Winston Sports » Printing
of Kit & Bags,
Dresses discount |
|
Premier Mortgage Management » Donation |
|
Black Lion Sports Centre, Gillingham » Towels, Drinks Bottles |
