JAMAICA Netball Association (JNA) president Marva Bernard has again expressed her wish to have a fully accessible indoor facility for the national senior players.

Said Bernard: “Not having an indoor facility for ourselves is a problem, but we try to work around it. GC Foster has come onboard to help the under-21s, and it’s interesting to note that those girls are playing on a sprung wooden floor more frequently than the senior players.”

Speaking to the Observer after last week’s launch of the 2010 National Commercial Bank (NCB) Sunshine Series involving Jamaica and England at the company’s Wellness & Recreation Centre, Bernard said the antiquated, asphalted Leila Robinson Courts at Independence Park are not sufficient to enhance the growth of the sport.

“When it rains the Leila Robinson Courts are inaccessible and we only have stands on one side and they are badly in need of repairs. We would love to have good seats all around those courts.

“The other thing is that they are used by everybody — for the Business House leagues, JNA leagues, by ISSA and also by the various church groups.

“That venue is woefully inadequate for the sport and those courts were built in 1971 when Jamaica hosted the World Netball Championships. Since then, netball has grown by leaps and bounds in the country,” she said.

“Right now we have the video analysis (technology), but we can’t use it outdoors because the lighting is so poor. When we get to go inside that is when we can use it and it’s not all the time that we can go inside” Bernard added.

The National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC), which, like the rest of the Stadium complex, falls under the supervision of Independence Park Limited (IPL), is one such facility which possesses the necessary facilities, said the JNA president.

Bernard’s explanation though, is that the JNA simply cannot afford to rent the facility as often as it would like.

“We want to thank IPL for what the’ve done, but the outdoor courts are not the best. To go indoors, even with a discount, it still means we have to go out and get additional funding to be able to pay for that.

“The other option is that we’d have to divert funds from somewhere to give the girls an opportunity,” said Bernard, while noting that the usage of the NISC increases when the Sunshine Girls are preparing to host an international series.

Though expressing that she would prefer to have a facility on the Stadium complex as the JNA’s training home, she has started to embrace the idea that they may have to look elsewhere.

“Yes, we would love to find another facility, but it’s so good to be inside the Stadium complex,” she said.

Last October Jamaica accomplished an historic 1-1 Test series results against the the top-ranked Australia and New Zealand at the NISC. This year’s matches against the number three-ranked England will be on September 1 and 3, also at the NISC.

The Sunshine Girls will be looking to rebound after being respectively ‘whitewashed’ 3-0 and 2-0 by Australia and New Zealand in Oceania earlier this month.