NATIONAL head coach Minneth Reynolds says that a well-prepared senior Sunshine Girls team can see the Jamaicans creating upsets over higher-ranked Australia and New Zealand at the Netball World Cup (NWC) scheduled for Sydney, Australia in August. The number four-ranked Sunshine Girls are yet to beat both number one-ranked Australia and number two-ranked New Zealand at an NWC, but Reynolds believes that the Girls will be ready for the challenge.

“We have the skills… we have the ability and determination to beat both Australia and New Zealand at the NWC. We have the team to do so,” Reynolds told the Jamaica Observer. “It is going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to upset those two powerful teams, but we are committed and focused in our preparation in doing so,” added Reynolds, who took over as head coach in 2013.

“At this point, we are behind them and it is time for a change and 2015 will be the time for that change,” she continued. Reynolds said that the Girls are on a high since beating number threeranked England in a three-test series in January, but says more work will have to be done in order to reach their full potential. “Beating England is really good in our preparation, but I believe that the three-test series came too early as we don’t have any other practice matches leading up to the NWC, so it is just training and more training for the Girls at the moment.

“The month of February we concentrated mainly on the fitness. We have to get our Girls in tip-top shape to take on the world. Later this month the players will be taking part in the semi-pro league and major leagues,” she said. Romelda Aiken and Jhanielle Fowler-Reid are not training with the squad as they both left the island for the world’s premier professional netball league, the ANZ Championships. Aiken returned to her Brisbane-based Firebirds in Australia, while Fowler-Reid is in a team in New Zealand.

The Sunshine Girls recently participated in the Sagicor SIGMA Corporate Run where goal-attack Shanice Beckford finished in 17th place out of 6,403 females in a time of 25:38 minutes and first in the 17-19- year-old age group. They also took part in a 4X400m relay race at the Gibson Relay last weekend at the National Stadium.

“The Gold Rush Down Under campaign is going on well right now, the Girls are taking part in everything (activities) and people are really supporting us in donating funds to our campaign as to send our Girls to Sydney to compete,” noted Reynolds, who has been involved in the sport for over 25 years. Jamaica will face Samoa in their opening game at the NWC at the Allphones Arena on Friday, August 7.