Sunshine Girls need $150 million for next World Cup campaign
NETBALL Jamaica (NJ) President Tricia Robinson says it is going to cost well over $150 million to prepare and send the Sunshine Girls to the next Netball World Cup (NWC), which will be held in Sydney, Australia, in 2027.
The Sunshine Girls, who are ranked fourth in the world, won a bronze medal at the last NWC, which was held in Cape Town, South Africa, last August. Netball Jamaica says it spent just over $100 million to prepare the Sunshine Girls for that campaign. This money was spent on salaries for the coaches and players, airfares, accommodation, meals, medical needs, and equipment.
Robinson told the Jamaica Observer it is expensive to prepare the team for international games in the build-up for the NWC but says NJ is already looking at ways raise the funds.
“A lot more will be done in terms of getting sponsorship because we have our four major sponsors on board and we certainly hope that they will continue with us, and we also hope that there will be others who are willing to come on board to partner with us,” she said.
“Our four major sponsors are Beryllium, National Bakery, Seprod, and Wray & Nephew — and we want to thank them for their kind support for our national team.
“This weekend our team will go into a strategic retreat to look back at our overall plans and look back on our budget on what it is going to take us to the next World Cup over the next three and half years. One hundred and fifty million dollars is a drop in the bucket because we certainly need money — and we need as much money as our footballers are getting — to take us there.”
Robinson says with Jamaica having eight players in what is considered the top netball league in the world, Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball, it means the national team is strong and should be supported. These players — Jhaniele Fowler, Shamera Sterling, Shanice Beckford, Jodi-ann Ward, Romelda Aiken, Latayna Wilson, Shimona Nelson and Kadie-ann Dehaney — are among the best in the competition.
“We have a very good team and, as you know, we are the number one team sport in the Caribbean,” she said. “They’re playing side by side with who they compete against — and we [will therefore] get to know them a little bit better — so the experience that they gain and the knowledge that they take back to their peers is invaluable.”