Netball Jamaica (NJ) President Karen Baugh says the Sunshine Girls can finally breathe easily. After years of stretching budgets and making hard choices, a landmark $20-million partnership with Cari-Med Group’s Kendel brand means the team’s preparation for major tournaments won’t be limited by money again.

The two-year cash-and-kind deal comes at a critical moment.

Jamaica’s senior netballers leave this weekend for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and with the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney already on the horizon, NJ will also send a development squad to the 2026 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games which will take place July 24 to August 8 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and preparation for the Horizon Series in Novermber. For Baugh, the timing could not be better. She said the partnership addresses the biggest drain on the association’s resources — residential camps where nutrition and recovery are non-negotiable.

Kendel will serve as the Sunshine Girls’ official nutrition, personal care, pain, and vitamin partner. Kendel products will fuel meals, Confidence feminine care will handle personal care, Cetamol will manage pain, and Vigorton plus Hemafed vitamins will back strength and endurance.

Baugh stressed that what happens behind the scenes is what matters most as the team trains several times each week with few breaks, and that background work now has stronger backing.

“It’s hugely important,” Baugh said at the official sponsorship announcement held at Cari-Med in Portmore on Tuesday. “We have to provide support at many different levels for the girls. We trained several times a week, we don’t take very many breaks and so preparation; when you see the girls out on court, you think they come to a few training sessions and the coaches putting the teams together but the preparations happens weeks and months before.

“The partnership with a company like Cari-Med and a brand like Kendel is really important for us and we are really grateful for the support,” she added.

Karen Baugh (left), Netball Jamaica president, presents the senior Sunshine Girls’ offical team jersey to Tynielle Chamber Barnett, Cari-Med Group business developemnt manager, at the official sponsorship announcement at Cari-Med in Portmore on Tuesday.

For Cari-Med, which is marking 40 years in business, the deal is about nation-building.

“We are big on giving back generally, but for the 40th anniversary we decided to go big in what we are doing. We wanted to give back to the community, to the country, and this is one of the ways that we can do so,” Cari-Med Group Business Development Manager Tynielle Chambers Barnett said.

“The Sunshine Girls have made us proud many times and so we believe that in making this contribution to them we will be contributing to nation-building, which is something that the company stands for,” Chambers Barnett told the
Jamaica Observer.

Baugh said the support will be critical in the camps.

“And they have shown that they’re willing to step up to the plate,” she said. “A lot of our expenses come with the residential camps that we have. Food is premium, you know, the girls need to eat right and we have to give them the proper nutrition. And so Kendel brands will be part of that.”

NJ has selected a strong 12-member squad to represent the country at the Commonwealth Games. The netball tournament will take place July 25 to August 2 at the OVO Hydro arena in Glasgow. The locally-based players will depart the island on Friday and will then be joined by the overseas-based players for a training camp ahead of the start of the games.