FOUR years ago when personal issues compelled her to walk away from the national netball team Nadine Bryan would not have imagined that one day she would be captain of the Sunshine Girls.

However, the smiles on the diminutive player’s face told a different story as she along with newly-appointed national head coach Oberon Pitterson were honoured at a breakfast hosted by their employer General Accident, at the Courtleigh Hotel in Kingston, yesterday.

Just a few months before the last World Netball Championships (WNC) in Auckland in 2007, Bryan made the decision to step away from the national programme and it was only after a long talk with her netball ‘adopted father’ Errol K Miller of LIME (then Cable and Wireless) that the centre court player returned to the senior squad in time to help them to a bronze medal in New Zealand.

Now, after being a national player for more than a decade, Bryan has been named captain and will lead the squad into the next WNC in Singapore from July 3-10.

“I let him (Miller) know all the problems I’m having and he did motivate me, giving me the reasons why I shouldn’t and why I need to think about it real hard and it really did make sense,” Bryan shared with the Observer.

“Sometimes we have to put our differences aside and think about the team and our country and what is best for the country and I really am happy I did listen to everything he had to say,” she added.

Bryan has often been described as one of the best players in the world, but told the Observer she see has not always seen herself from that perspective.

“I think they are seeing it more than I am so when people tell me that and when I was selected for the world team, that really made me think that yes, I am doing something well,” she said, adding that it was one of the reasons she chose to return.

“People were saying ‘yes’ I am really a key part of the team, so I know I had to come back and do it for Jamaica and I have to forget about my individual personal problems. Put that aside and do it for the country. I’m happy I did and I’m proud that I did.”

The player pulled another trick out of the hat earlier this year when she told reporters that she would not be applying for the post of captain when the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) changed its policy making it mandatory for aspirants to apply for the leadership position.

Bryan now believes the new policy is a good one. “I thought I didn’t want to be the captain, I would just be there as a player, but then I went home and thought hard about it. I think the applying process is a very good process because the captain will understand her role more. She knows the responsibility. The fact that you apply for it you must know what is expected of you, so I think it is a very good concept.”

Bryan who is now in her early 30’s realises she has to work extra hard to stay ahead of her team. There is a 13-year gap between herself and the youngest player on the 12 member national squad.

“I’m really a self-motivated person. Whatever I want to do I really go hard at it and as I get older I know that there’s more work that I have to do and that I am willing to do. Everyday I train ’cause I know I have to do this. The team looks up to me to give them the energy as well so I know at all times I have to be fit and ready to go,” she noted.

This summer’s world tournament in Singapore will be Bryan’s fourth.