Connie Francis, the head coach of Jamaica’s senior netballers, is confident the Sunshine Girls will end their 16-year medal drought at the World Cup when they contest the 2023 edition in Cape Town, South Africa, from July 28 to August 6.

The highly anticipated championship will see the best 16 netball teams in the world trying to matching strides with defending champions New Zealand.

The Sunshine Girls, who are ranked fourth in the world, have failed to win a medal at the last three Netball World Cup (NWC) tournaments. In fact, Francis was the last coach to guide the Sunshine Girls to a medal at the World Cup when they won bronze in 2007 in New Zealand.

The Jamaicans had one of their worst showings at the championships in 2019 when they finished a disappointing fifth in Liverpool, England.

Francis returned to coach the team at the end of 2019 after a nine-year hiatus to lead the team to a historic silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Francis told the Jamaica Observer the squad is very experienced entering this year’s championships and therefore she has no doubt that they will take home a medal.

“We have to be a little bit more disciplined and tactical in our approach and I think that this time around we have certainly learned and I think [we have] an experienced team,” Francis said, following Tuesday night’s send-off reception.

“This is a team that has been together for a very long time, so I figure that we do have the experience and the [hunger] because I can tell you that these girls are very hungry to come back home with a medal, because for the last three World Cups we haven’t had one,” she said.

The Sunshine Girls team includes seven players who recently completed their season in the Suncorp Super League in Australia. They are Captain Jhaniele Fowler, Romelda Aiken, Shamera Sterling, Shimona Nelson, Kadie-Ann Dehaney, Jodiann Ward and Latanya Wilson.

The tough-talking Francis pointed out that their preparations heading into the championships have been great, so it is now up to the players to go out there and execute on the day.

“I know that all the teams are stepping up their preparations. We know that New Zealand are the defending champions and they will be coming hard and ready to defend their title,” she stated.

“Australia and even South Africa and all the other teams will be coming too, and so it is about us tactically attacking these teams, and I know that we have the players in our squad who will execute well,” Francis added.

She said there will be a lot of pressure on the Sunshine Girls at the Championships, but they have prepared mentally and physically to deal with whatever difficulties that they may face.

“The good thing is that it is really a team effort because they know that… the spotlight is on them, but what I can tell you is that we have not just good players, but we have great players,” Francis said.

“But there is always pressure. Pressure is even on the defending champions, so it is never easy. It is how you manage the pressure. But one thing I can tell you is that these girls rally around each other and they support each other and they give each other that vibe to go and do it, and having the experience that they come with, that says a lot to handle the pressure,” she said.

Squad – Jhaniele Fowler (captain), Romelda Aiken, Shamera Sterling, Shimona Nelson, Kadie-Ann Dehaney, Jodiann Ward, Latanya Wilson, Shanice Beckford, Rebekah Robinson, Khadijah Williams, Nicole Dixon-Rochester, Adean Thomas, Crystal Plummer, Kimone Shaw and Abigail Sutherland.