Rhone worried about progress of sport in the region
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Officials of the Americas Federation of Netball Associations (AFNA) are concerned about the growth of the sport in the region.
AFNA president Jamaican Molly Rhone, who is also president of the International Federation of Netball Association (IFNA), observed that the sport is growing rapidly around the globe, but it was not happening at the same rate in the AFNA region.
“Everything is wrong, the levels of administration, the coaching, and the umpiring,” said Rhone.
“I really believe if I were to take all three, I would give umpiring the highest mark at the moment.”
Rhone identifies one of the major issues as the amateur level at which the game is administered in the region outside of Jamaica which has climbed in the World rankings to No 3.
“Certainly, the level of administration needs to be improved,” she said. “I am not sure that the people in administration take full advantage of the courses that are being given and the opportunities.
“I am aware that several of the National Olympic Committees do courses on administration that they can attend.”
She added: “The level of play is a function of the level of the administration. I firmly believe that.”
hone noted that IFNA also has a World Academy at the University of Manchester in England, but she recognised that costs were prohibitive.
She felt, however, that sponsorship could be sought to overcome the high costs, and countries in the AFNA region needed to take advantage to be able to close the gap between the top tier and the second tier in the sport.
“We are pleased to see that Jamaica and England are really knocking on the door,” she said.
“Whenever Australia, England, Jamaica, and New Zealand play now, I don’t think you could bet on which one is winning the championship.
“I think Jamaica and England are playing almost to the level of Australia and New Zealand.
“What we have done, we have divided all of our members into tiers – tier one, tier two, tier three, tier four – and we have decided we are going to concentrate our resources on the tier two countries to see if at our championships we can have more competitive games.”
