FORMER national netball captain and women’s basketball co-captain Oberon Pitterson is disturbed by suggestions by basketball captain Simone Edwards that her employers denied her time to attend a training camp in preparation for the Centro Basketball Tournament in Puerto Rico this month.

In response to an article carried by this newspaper recently, Pitterson, who will join up with the team on Thursday in Puerto Rico for the July 11 start of the tournament, said her employers, General Accidents, have always given her full support in regard to her national duties and she was disheartened when the article suggested otherwise.

She also explained that the training camp was originally scheduled to take place in Jamaica, but after taking all things into consideration, it was decided it would be more feasible if it was held in the USA. As a result, an overseas camp was hastily arranged.

The decorated Jamaican netballer noted that based on the original arrangement, she would have needed no time off from work to attend the camp and because of this, she requested no time off.

“… When they came up with the idea to hold the camp overseas, about three weeks ago, I could not ask again, so it was not about my employers denying me, because at the time the decision was made to have the training camp in the US; I never requested it,” she emphasised.

This untimely change in the training schedule confused her and her employers, she pointed out.

“Because the training camp was supposed to be at the Stadium, there was no need for me to ask for time out. I would leave training camp and go to work in the morning and leave work and go to training at evening,” she explained.

However, she added: “When you’re looking time from work it’s not something that you’re entitled to; it’s something given by your boss based on the situation,” she added.

OP, as she is commonly called, says the request she made for leave will start when she travels to meet up with the team in Puerto Rico on Thursday.

She admitted that not spending enough time to prepare as a team might have its shortcomings, but she is confident that with their experience and quality, they can really achieve a top-three finish at the tournament.

“It will be a disadvantage not being able to practise together, but we’ll have to use our experience to get through,” she said.