NETBALL Jamaica (NJ) President Tricia Robinson says her organisation is looking for a devoted, enthusiastic, daring, and experienced head coach to oversee the growth and management of the senior netball team.

The position of head coach of the Sunshine Girls became available on September 4 after Connie Francis’s contract with the national team expired. This followed the Sunshine Girls’ bronze medal at the Netball World Cup in South Africa last summer.

“We have an advertisement out stating that we are hunting a head coach for the Sunshine Girls team. The selected candidate must have a Jamaica Award Coaching Certificate, or its equivalent, and they will be head of our national training programme,” Robinson told the Jamaica Observer.

“The Sunshine Girls team is a highly ranked team internationally, and we expect the successful candidate must take us to the next level. The vacancy was opened at the end of our four-year-old cycle and closes on December 20,” the president further stated.

Robinson stated that the Sunshine Girls are now on vacation. The Sunshine Girls were last seen competing in the Netball Fast5 competition in New Zealand, finishing fifth.

“It was a significant improvement over the previous year [when] they went to the Fast5 competition. They were the only team to beat Australia, who went on to win the tournament. The Sunshine Girls won three of their games and they got Most Valuable Players on three occasions.

“Overall, I think it was a better improvement over the previous year — and, certainly, we are expecting them to do much better next time around. The future is very bright for the Sunshine Girls,” Robinson said.

Interested candidates for the position of head coach should have five years of Elite coaching experience, with at least three years at the international level. The candidate must also have excellent and demonstrable athlete management and development skills and experience. He or she must have experience in planning and implementing a successful high-performance programme.

Qualified candidates can apply to https://netballjamaicacoaching@gmail.com.

Nicole Aiken-Pinnock and Shaun Murdock have expressed interest in the top role so far. Aiken-Pinnock worked alongside Phylis Thompson to lead the Sunshine Girls to gold at the 2023 Central America and Caribbean (CAC) Games, which were held in El Salvador this summer. She was also a Netball Fast5 co-coach with Murdock. Murdock was Francis’s assistant when the Sunshine Girls won bronze at the World Cup.