With the appointment of Keyan Murdock as assistant coach for Jamaica’s senior netballers, head coach of the Sunshine Girls Connie Francis says she can now breathe a sigh of relief as she will receive much-needed support.

The announcement of Murdock as assistant coach for the senior team was made by Netball Jamaica (NJ) on Wednesday, the day he was said to have started his stint.

Francis said that Murdock will be mostly focused on the defensive unit while she takes charge up front as the Sunshine Girls prepare for the 16th staging of the Netball World Cup, the premier competition in international netball. The tournament will be held from Friday, July 28 to Sunday, August 6 at the International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa.

“It feels good. Now I can totally focus my energy, especially in the early stages of preparation, on one area of the court. The assistant [Murdock] will be a defensive coach while I will be the attacking person,” Francis told the Jamaica Observer.

“Unlike when we were going to the Commonwealth tournament, you know, Rob Wright came on board, but he wasn’t there in the early stages of our preparation, and it worked. And so having somebody here with the numbers should help us a whole lot,” Francis further explained.

Murdock will join the senior national team with over 20 years of experience as a netball coach and certification in advanced coaching at Level 4, Netball Australia, and Jamaica Award, Level 1.

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