Having gone almost four years without an assistant coach for the national senior team, Netball Jamaica (NJ) says it is now close to appointing a deputy to Sunshine Girls Head Coach Connie Francis.

Jamaica, who are ranked fourth in the world, have been without an assistant coach since the appointment of Francis at the end of 2019.

Tricia Robinson, president of NJ, told the Jamaica Observer that the organisation has interviewed a number of candidates for the post and a final decision will be announced shortly.

“We have done our interviews of the candidates for the position and we will send out a media release as to who that person is next week,” said Robinson.

“They are all good candidates that went up for the position and we are all pleased that the right person will be selected for the post,” she said.

The Observer has learnt that five people were interviewed for the position.

Robinson said everyone interviewed for the post is highly qualified individuals and therefore, she is confident the chosen individual will have a positive impact on the national team.

“It is very important that we have an assistant coach to assist Connie Francis on the bench,” she said. “It definitely eased some of the burden off the coach in many ways than one for the team,” Robinson said.

Shanice Beckford, vice-captain of the Sunshine Girls team, said that she is very delighted that NJ is to appoint an assistant coach.

“I am very happy about this because it is something that we have been asking for a very long time and it will help to offset some pressure off Connie,” said Beckford.

“It is a massive plus for Connie because she alone cannot train an entire squad of 26 players and so we are really happy that we are getting one at this point, just ahead of this year’s World Championships,” she said.

Beckford, who plays goal attack, was a member of the Sunshine Girls team that won a historic silver medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.