Former national Captain Simone Forbes is feeling very confident of her chances of being victorious in her bid for the post of first vice-president at the Americas Netball when the body convenes a two-day annual general meeting (AGM), which starts today.

The AGM, which is held every four years, will be held at the Liguanea Club in New Kingston. Forbes, who is the current first vice-president of Netball Jamaica (NJ), will be going up against the incumbent Mary Webb of Canada and Patrick Heron of the United States for the post of first vice-president.

Forbes, who is rated as one of the best netball players to have ever played the game, told Jamaica Observer that her experience gained from playing in the regional competitions — which spans over 20 years — has prepared her well for this position and she is quite upbeat that she will be victorious.

“I have spoken to a few persons, but it is not even about canvassing because I think at the AGM questions are going to be asked of the candidates,” said Forbes. “I am hoping that during that session that whatever questions are asked of me, I will provide the responses that they are looking for,” she said.

“I don’t think it is going to be a landslide victory for anyone of the candidates because I believe that all three really do believe that we have something that we can contribute to regional netball,” Forbes added.

She shared that the Jamaica Sunshine Girls is the only team from the region that is currently ranked in the top 10 of the International Netball Federation world rankings, with African having four teams in the top 10. Forbes stated that one of her main objectives, if she is successful at the AGM, is that she will be working assiduously to improve the quality of netball that is played in the region.

The Sunshine Girls are currently ranked third in the world, while Trinidad and Tobago are currently at number 11 followed by Barbados at 14 and Grenada at 20.

“For me it is about service, it is about giving back and I have played in Caribbean netball competitions for years, so I am familiar with what happens on the courts with all that experience and at Netball Jamaica, I am familiar with what happens off the courts,” she said. “I believe that as a region, if we can work together we can certainly improve on our netball,” Forbes said.

“We need to because the African nations have taken over the top 10 and we the Americas region are usually the ones with four countries in the top 10 and now we only have one, so we need to take a serious look at that,” she ended.

— Robert Bailey