SHAMERA Sterling-Humphrey, Jamaica’s renowned netball player, is ready to ignite the court as she prepares to face off against the Sunshine Girls’ arch-rivals England in the highly anticipated Vitality Horizon Series.

The series, the first of its kind, kicks off on November 16 and 17 at AO Arena in Manchester, England, before shifting to Jamaican soil for the return leg on November 25 and 26.

With the opportunity to compete in front of her home fans Sterling-Humphrey is more determined than ever to lead her team to victory. The outstanding goalkeeper and goal defender will be crucial in Jamaica’s quest for success, given her wealth of experience and skill which she brings to the table.

Sterling-Humphrey has been playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Australia’s top-tier league for the past six seasons. She led the Thunderbirds to the club’s first premiership in a decade last year. She was selected for the Club Champion Award and named Suncorp Super Netball Player of the Year, having led the league with 118 deflections.

“I have been playing in Australia for six years and the experience has been wonderful. It feels good to be taken out of the Caribbean and be one of the best players over there in Australia, in one of the best leagues.

“I have grown into a much better player; I am a player that understands and reads the game much better than when I just came in,” Sterling Humphrey told the Jamaica Observer shortly ahead of the team’s training session at National Indoor Sports Centre on Friday.

Sterling-Humphrey’s focus is fixed squarely on the Englishwomen.

“It is always good to come back home and suit up in the black, green, and gold. We are looking forward to playing England and, hopefully, getting the win so it is good to be back where you had started and learned most of the skills,” she said.

“England never backs down; the players are always up for the challenge — especially when they are playing Jamaica — and the same can be said for Jamaica. Every time we come up against England it is always a great match and a match that people always want to see,” she added.

The Sunshine Girls defensive leader emphasised the importance of discipline, commitment, and hard work if the Sunshine Girls are to come out of the series on top.

“It will take a lot of discipline, commitment, and hard work, and once we put in the training here, we get the results. Training has been going good so far and I am happy at the moment. Big players always need training; that’s why we’re big players, because we need training,” she reasoned.

She was part of the Jamaican squad that won bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was also in the team that won their first-ever silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, losing to Australia in the final after defeating New Zealand in the semis, and beating Australia for the first time in a Commonwealth Games during the group stage. Additionally, she formed part of the 2023 bronze medal-winning team at the World Cup in Cape Town.

Sterling-Humphrey welcomed the return of international netball to Jamaica, a development she and fellow players had advocated for.

“It’s always good to be getting back international netball on home soil because I know it hasn’t been in Jamaica for a while. It was something that us, as players, have bargained for, so I think the agreement with us is that we will only be playing if we get home matches. We want our fans to support us as well as Netball Jamaica,” she explained

Sterling-Humphrey’s passion for netball began at 12, driven by a desire to escape poverty and support her family.

“I was poor and I needed a way out. I just wanted to take care of myself and my family, and sport was the gateway. And here comes netball that chose me, and I chose it too. I have no regrets. The plan right now is to continue playing netball and see how long I can go. I want to be still doing netball as long as I can and so I won’t put any age on it for when I want to finish,” she ended.