SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Nicole Aiken-Pinnock, co-coach of Jamaica’s gold-medal-winning team at the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games, has lauded the Sunshine Girls for their history-making performance at the championships.

The Sunshine Girls created history on Friday night when they brushed aside Caribbean rivals Trinidad and Tobago 50-34 to win the medal at the championships. This was the first time in the history of the championships that netball was being played.

Aiken-Pinnock, who is a former Sunshine Girls defender, said that she was very happy with the team’s performance throughout the championships.

“I am very proud of the ladies because I think that they really stepped on court understanding what our goals and objectives were and they really executed well and I have to commend them for that,” she said.

“It was a total team effort on and off the court, the energy, the vibes and so everything has been good from morning and I have to commend them on this win.

“We are happy that we are able to bring this home back to Jamaica knowing that we are the first team to have ever won the gold medal at the CAC Games, and so this is history for us,” Aiken-Pinnock stated.

The Jamaica team, which includes five players who will be representing the country at this month’s Netball World Cup in Cape Town, and for Aiken-Pinnock, the CAC Games gold will be a big morale-booster going into South Africa.

“I think it is going to be a big year in netball for Jamaica because the male team went to England and they finished 3-0 and we are here at the CAC Games and we finished atop the table with the gold medal,” she said. “I think that at the World Championships in Cape Town, our ladies are truly going to represent for us and so I think this is just a booster for them going into the World Championships,” Aiken-Pinnock added.

The Trinidadians dominated the early exchanges as they quickly jumped out to a 10-8 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half of the match. However, the Jamaicans ended the first period on a four-nil run to assume a 12-10 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Sunshine Girls picked up where they left off from the first stanza and dominated the second period to outscore their rivals 11-6 to extend their lead at 23-16 at half-time. Goal-shooter Simone Gordon had an excellent first half for the Jamaicans as she netted 21 of the team’s 23 goals in the first two quarters of the match.

The team’s defensive unit of goalkeeper Abbeygail Linton, goal-defence Kimone Shaw and wing-defence Crystal Plummer also played brilliantly for the Sunshine Girls, efforts that combined to limit the opponents in the second quarter.

Gordon, who was one of the standout players in the tournament, ended the match with 42 goals from 45 attempts as the Sunshine Girls went on to take a 38-27 lead at end of the third period before winning the match easily at the end of the fourth stanza.

Rebekah Robinson’s seven from 12 and Amanda Pinkeny one from one were the other scores for the Sunshine Girls. Afiesha Noel topscored for the Trinis with 23 goals from 24 tries.

Aiken-Pinnock said the Trinidadians played well throughout the match, but they were the better team on the day.

“We have to give our opponents some credit because Trinidad really came out hard and I thought it was a very physical game but we stood our ground and we walked away as winners,” Aiken-Pinnock said.

“I also have to commend the ladies for the work that they have put in at this championships, because they listen to the instructions from Coach Phyllis and I so it was good to see them going out and executing what we have asked of them,” she said.