With application for the position of head coach for Jamaica’s Sunshine Girls now closed, president of Netball Jamaica (NJ) Tricia Robinson said her organisation has now started the process of selecting a suitable candidate for the position.

With focus on the future, Robinson said NJ aims to appoint a suitable candidate to replace Connie Francis early in the new year.

“Our organisation aims to appoint the most suitable candidate for the position. It is all about properly compensating the coach,” Robinson explained.

“We compete against the best in the world and against technology, so we want to ensure that the next coach that steps in from Connie Francis is of the highest level,” she added.

Robinson expressed optimism regarding the collaboration with corporate Jamaica in the hope for funds to secure a coach of the highest calibre.

“To be number one in the world, we have to be able to pay the coach, and so we really hope that we will get assistance from corporate Jamaica to assist us,” she added.

Robinson commended those who had submitted applications.

“We advertised the position, and a number of persons have sent in their applications,” she revealed. Robinson said while the response was not necessarily overwhelming, she found comfort in the quality of the applications.

“Yes, we have received some overseas applications, but I can’t say from which countries,” she noted.

Francis, 54, took over the reins as head coach of the Sunshine Girls in October of 2019 following the Sunshine Girls’ disappointing fifth-place finish at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, that year.

She led the Sunshine Girls to the bronze medal at Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, in August. The veteran also led the Jamaicans to a historic silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, in 2022.