After seeing the Sunshine Girls win consecutive series, Head Coach Sasher-Gaye Henry-Wright says the team can become the best in the world with more exposure.

Jamaica’s senior netballers showed their class at the National Indoor Sports Centre this month with a 3-0 sweep over South Africa in the Margaret Beckford Sunshine Series.

Led by Captain Shamera Sterling-Humphrey and Player of the Series Shimona Nelson-Jok, the world’s number three-ranked Sunshine Girls scored over 172 goals in the three matches while restricting the Spar Proteas to under 50 goals in each of the three outings.

It was Henry-Wright’s second series since becoming head coach last January, and after overcoming England, she was impressed with the team’s growth.

“We have to big up South Africa because this type of performance and this level of competition are the only things that will make us better,” she told the Jamaica Observer. “It shows that we can compete against the top teams in the world, we have a place at the table and we continue to work hard.

“The Girls did extremely well over the three Tests and I think we improved in our performance game by game. There is still room for improvement in some areas, but we need to keep building on these performances. Our gains and how we executed was quite impressive, so overall we’re grateful. It’s our second series in our four-year stint to the World Cup and the Girls performed well.”

Jamaica moved up to third in the world rankings after their 2-1 Horizon Series win over England. Henry-Wright says the team can move to the number one spot with more matches under their belt but admits it will be challenging due to the resources.

“What we really want to do is to ensure during the international windows we compete as much as we can,” she said. “When you look, a lot of those top teams are competing six, seven games. We definitely can’t afford it, but with the resources and sponsors coming on board, it will give us the ability.

“There are limitations in terms of affording to go to those countries, but with our performances, we know teams will want to play us. But we definitely want to initiate some of those games so that the Girls can be more exposed and play at a higher level.”

Henry-Wright says more training and background work will be done in the coming months to keep the team’s standard high.

“We definitely have to go back to our specialist sessions, our strength and conditioning, looking at players individually and creating a platform for them to grow and expose them,” she said.

“We always want to bring more players in, making the squad more competitive. Our off-court work with them, in terms of building that good relationship, is something we need to look at as well as their mental toughness, trying to prepare them as best as we can.”

The Sunshine Girls’ next opponents will be announced in the coming months as they continue their preparation for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, Australia.