CONNIE Francis says coaching netball has always been her lifelong passion, and although her time with Jamaica’s senior Sunshine Girls has ended she is exploring new possibilities elsewhere because she wants to continue growing and learning.

Francis’s contract as head coach for the senior Sunshine Girls expired on September 4, 2023, and was not renewed. She is without a doubt Jamaica’s most successful netball coach, having led the Sunshine Girls to a number of major victories during various spells as the senior team boss.

Francis’s most recent tenure as Sunshine Girls head coach began in October 2019, following the team’s woefully underwhelming fifth-place finish at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, that summer. Since then, the Sunshine Girls made remarkable progress. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, they earned a historic silver medal.

Under the guidance of Francis, Jamaica ended a 16-year drought of not medalling at a World Cup by winning bronze in the global showpiece in August, 2023.

Francis, a former standout national player, played in five World Netball Championships between 1986 and 2003, helping to lift Jamaica’s world ranking from fifth to third during that period. Her first stint with the team as head coach was from 2007–2011. Netball Jamaica (NJ) is expected to name a new head coach on Friday.

Francis stated that she had achieved her goal while being a part-time national coach in Jamaica, and it is now time to pursue a different path.

“Yeah, I think I have accomplished a lot with the Jamaica national netball team, and I’m still growing,” Francis told the
Jamaica Observer.

“I don’t know when I’ll stop growing and learning because there’s so much new stuff happening so I try to keep myself current. I’ve finished here in Jamaica because I used to coach at The Mico University [College] as well. I’ve finished, and I’m moving on.

“I’m trying to take another path and make another footprint somewhere else as a full-time coach. I need to challenge myself in that capacity to see what I can do because if I’ve accomplished so much as a part-time coach. I don’t know, the sky’s the limit for full-time coaches,” Francis further added.

Francis has stated that she intends to expand her business in the Caribbean and is considering a variety of options as she aims to make a significant impact.

“Well, my vision is to do work in the Caribbean — [and] not just at one place. I want to go everywhere I can in the Caribbean and so I am looking at several options,” Francis revealed. “But I am telling you that I think I need to see Trinidad, Barbados, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. As the head coach I want to make it even the top 12 in the world,” Francis shared.

On Friday, January 19 Francis was rewarded for her many years of commitment in netball with the Chairman’s Award at the 63rd staging of the RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards ceremony at Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Francis stated that this prize will undoubtedly encourage the growth of the sport in the country.

“This is a big surprise; I didn’t expect anything like this. I think my netball award and things like that were left back in 2023. I am ecstatic, and I am happy to know that I have been acknowledged, you know? Getting the Chairman’s Award means a lot,” the 54-year-old Francis told the
Observer.

“This is good because netball has always been doing well. No matter what, we are in the top five and for a long time we have been doing extremely well — and even better now. To get silver and bronze is really better; it’s really an accomplishment for the girls, and I was very happy to be a part of the coaching staff and to be standing with the girls,” Francis added.

Francis discussed her playing career, upbringing, and the encouragement she received from her family and mentors.

“I come from the ghetto in Waterhouse and I’m so proud of my upbringing there. I’m from a family of 16 siblings, and I have my sister Dawn and my sister Joan who are the backbone of who I am today. I got a lot of encouragement.

“I was born in the great Waulgrovian Sports Club where I’ve had the guidance of some really super people who actually helped guide my career path, not only as a player but to ensure that I went to Waulgrove College also — and that was because of the club. I have a lot to be thankful for.

“I was saying to my daughter that when I look back and I’ve seen what they were sowing, I’m like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe it,’ and I’m still standing here. I have a lot to be grateful for, and for the acknowledgement that my country really acknowledges the work that all athletes, including myself, have done,” Francis ended.