British-born Brie Grierson made her debut in the Jamaica Sunshine Girls 55-47 win over South Africa in the Margaret Beckford Netball three-match series opener on Saturday and she could not contain her joy. In fact, she cried in the arms of her dreadlocked father Roy after the match.

Grierson, born in Leeds, represented England at the youth level but was convinced by her good friend Rhea Dixon to switch to the Sunshine Girls.

Dixon, also born in Britain, switched to playing for Jamaica in 2023, so both players now proudly don the black, gold and green of the Sunshine Girls, instead of the red, blue and white of the Roses.

They were asked by the Jamaica Observer, what’s the feeling like representing Jamaica?

Both chuckled like kids, looked at each other and burst into laughter.

“It has been great for us playing here together. We have been friends from way back,” said Dixon.

“The atmosphere is amazing, we enjoyed it a lot,” said Grierson.

But unlike the case of the Reggae Boyz senior football set-up in which some English-born players turn to Jamaica after giving up hope of being selected for England, Grierson and Dixon opted to get into a team ranked higher than the country of their birth.

Jamaica are ranked third with England sitting fourth in the world. Jamaica defeated the English Roses in a series late last year.

Sunshine Girl Brie Grierson and her dad Roy.

The Sunshine Girls Head Coach Sasher-Gaye Henry-Wright said she welcomed the players wanting to represent Jamaica but they must add value.

“They played together before and the league in England is a professional league and they understand the style in which we play,” said Henry-Wright.

“This is not the first. We have had people pay their way to come to Jamaica for us to see them. But you have to have the quality, the level. I mean persons who want to pay for their country and they are at that level, it’s good and it’s healthy competition and they are welcomed,” she added.

Dixon, who can play either goal attack or wing attack, made her Jamaican debut in the Fast5 Netball World series in 2023 and was a member of the Sunshine Girls that defeated England last year.

On Saturday, both players started on the bench but were introduced at the start of the third quarter with Jamaica holding a 29-23 advantage. Dixon replaced Shanice Beckford at goal attack and Grierson replaced wing attack Khadijah Williams. Their impact was instant as Jamaica widened the gap.

“That’s what we want, at this level we want players coming off the bench to boost the game and I think we went up even more. They were pretty steady and disciplined,” coach Henry-Wright.

“They looked good in the match because it was noticeable that they were on [the] court. The English players did bring a lot of calm, there’s a lot of patience in the attack. They were very steady and it’s something that we have to impress on all our players to be that consistent, to be that disciplined, to be that patient in the attack. They brought the experience and we’re quite pleased with their performance,” Henry-Wright said.

Grierson noted that she hopes her inclusion could help Jamaica take the next step and secure that elusive gold medal at the World Cup in 2027 after falling short a number of times.

“I said to Shamera [Sterling-Humphrey], ‘I’m coming on board and we’re gonna win a gold’ and she was like, ‘yeah, a 100 per cent’. I think all I know we have a talented enough squad to win gold,” said Grierson.

Both Grierson and Dixon have signed to the new netball franchise, Nottingham Forest, for the 2025 season of the English Netball Super League.

Dixon is coming off consecutive league titles with Loughborough Lightning and was the MVP in Loughborough’s 70-54 victory over the Manchester Thunder in the 2024 final.