NETBALL Jamaica and Kiwanis staged a second showing of Pickney Netball yesterday at the Leila Robinson Courts in Kingston.

The two games were watched by an appreciative crowd of teachers, parents, netball officials, Kiwanis representatives and others.

Four teams took to the courts with one match won outright while the other ended in a draw. The teams were St Richard’s Early Childhood Education Centre, who took the match over Lalyce Early Childhood Centre and Sunrise Early Childhood Centre, who drew their match when they played Smurfs Early Childhood Centre.

The teams showed improvement in their play and understanding of the game compared to when they were first showcased in November last year, according to some of the persons who watched both events.

According to Marva Bernard, president of Netball Jamaica, it is all a part of the plan to give little girls and boys another ball to play with other than cricket or football.

She said that the plan is also to take Pickney Netball islandwide to include as many early childhood institutions, to introduce the sport from as early as possible, as well as to encourage healthy lifestyle through play.

Bernard indicated that she was overjoyed to see the future netball players, coaches, presidents and administrators learning the game and having fun from early.

Serge Viau, Governor of Kiwanis Canada and Eastern Caribbean Division who was visiting the island, indicated that the Kiwanis K-Kids programme from the basic school was used to partner with Netball Jamaica to stage Pickney Netball.

The K-Kids programme is used to teach children team building and leadership skills as they learn how to manage a club with positions such as president, secretary and others. He also said that he sees Kiwanis continuing its support of Pickney Netball for a long time, as more Kiwanis clubs across the island give its support to the programme.

Pickney Netball does not focus on the actual scores but rather on coordinated play and fun. The games are two halves of five minutes each and uses shorter goal posts.

Kiwanis is the main partner with funding support also coming from SDF and Wata providing hydration.