Another Caribbean netball tournament has come and gone and once again the results have shown Jamaica way ahead of the regional competition.

At the recent Jean Pierre Caribbean Under-16 Championships in Barbados, the Jamaicans won each of their six games by more than 15 goals. The young Sunshine Girls beat Barbados 35-19, Dominica 45-7, Grenada 40-13, Trinidad & Tobago 42-21, St Lucia 41-16, and were a whopping 60 goals clear of St Vincent and the Grenadines, whom they beat 70-11.

It is clear that while the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) has a vision of Jamaica becoming the number-one ranked team in the world at all levels, for the Sunshine Girls to finally overthrow powerhouses Australia and New Zealand there is need for a higher level of competition on a consistent basis.

To become the best, one must consistently play the best. As the situation now stands, Caribbean teams are apparently not providing the kind of sharp, keep-you-on-your-toes play that’s needed to push Jamaica to number one.

It was with deep regret that International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) president Ms Molly Rhone talked about the decline in Caribbean netball following the 2007 World Netball Championships in Auckland, New Zealand. At the same time, she praised the advancement which has taken place in the sport in Africa and the emergence of teams such as Botswana and Malawi.

This advance may be reflective of the push that IFNA has made towards increasing the profile of the game in Africa. Encouragingly, it does seem like the gap may be closing between Jamaica and the top two countries in the world. Last October, for the first time in over a decade, the Sunshine Girls defeated both Australia and New Zealand in games in Kingston.

Those victories and the pronouncement by leading Australia coach, Ms Norma Plummer, that no one would beat the Jamaicans if they had the right facilities and funds, must be like sweet music to the ears of JNA boss Ms Marva Bernard.

The tears certainly flowed freely from Ms Bernard, players, administrators and coach Ms Connie Francis following those wins at the National Indoor Sports Centre.

While still seeking outside support, but now recognising what it must do, the JNA has turned to its own resources to give national players the training, experience, and development they need to win that coveted world title.

The year 2013 is the goal.

Thanks to technology company 3M, the Development Squad and Netball Academy are now a reality. The company took its first foray into sports sponsorship recently by providing $10 million in funding towards netball’s development.

“We recognised that the programme was in dire need of funding. We were drawn to netball because of the cleanness of the sport and the fact that the netballers always represented us very well,” sales and marketing manager Ms Shana Davis said of 3M’s decision to invest.

Innovation is 3M’s mantra. Maybe with a little innovation of its own, Jamaica’s netball will, in a few years, reach the pinnacle it has been working so many years to achieve.