Marva Bernard scores at more than netball

There is no one more committed to the growth and development of netball in Jamaica than head of the local governing body for the sport, MARVA BERNARD. With one year under her belt as president of the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA), Bernard wants to fully transform the state of the sport in Jamaica before her tenure is up. She reveals the passion that keeps her going and where she hopes it takes her.

IT is always an immense pleasure to have a chat with Marva Bernard. Her warm and gracious spirit, inviting smile, pleasant overall demeanour and the way she drops bits of advice as she speaks, always make the conversation incredibly pleasurable.

It is a temperate Tuesday morning in the city as I enter the offices of the Jamaica Information Service where Bernard has worked as the director of finance since 2000. A low volume Buju Banton tune greets us as we enter her spacious office – the walls lined with pictures of sports personalities and charts of wise words. She is immaculately dressed and made up as always – her black and white outfit, low cut hair and spectacles all vie for attention – and eager to talk about the ‘N’ word (netball for the uninitiated). After all, it’s been more than a year since Bernard was elected JNA president, a post she has accepted along with all the hurdles and heartache that have come along with it.

“So far the journey has been filled with many highs and lows,” she shares. “The wheat and the tares have to grow together. But I’m learning as I go along.”

Undoubtedly with a job like JNA president comes high expectations and criticism from all sectors, especially as the association strengthens its sponsorship drive to prepare the Sunshine Girls for upcoming international assignments.

Bernard says despite the successes, securing sponsorship remains a primary challenge. “Raising the funds to do what is necessary to develop the sport has been overwhelming,” she says. “But I really love what I do. Sometimes I wish Bernie [husband of 16 years] could win the lottery so I could retire and do this [netball management] full-time. I would really be doing what I want to do – my life’s ambition.”

But Bernard doesn’t dwell on disappointments and shortcomings. She views them as “sleeping policemen” to overcome. And besides, where sponsorship is concerned, things have been looking up. Two weeks ago, the JNA brokered a deal with Air Jamaica which will see the national airline transporting the national teams at reduced rates until 2009. And these are the “little things” that lifts Bernard’s spirit and motivates her to set more targets with the hope of reaching them – all for the love of a sport. But in the meantime, there is more work to be done.

“Little by little the support is coming in and this new deal with Air Jamaica really means a lot to me and the girls. It’s a huge achievement,” says Bernard, who worked at the national airline for 24 years before moving to JIS. “Digicel has also come on board and we just need other members of corporate Jamaica to come out and support us.”

Among the association’s other accomplishments in the past year, Bernard highlights the launch of their website, the full refurbishment of the JNA offices at the National Arena Complex, and the recapturing of the regional Under-16 championship trophy by the junior Sunshine Girls. But she wants to see the sport accomplish much more in the coming months and years with the support of all stakeholders.

“We are working hard for greater recognition of the sport in Jamaica. I read somewhere that ‘We cannot become who we need to be by remaining who we are’. So that is what is really driving me right now,” remarks Bernard, who holds a Masters degree and also serves as the director of finance for the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA).

“Some of our other objectives include starting up a nursery programme in each parish and addressing the issue of coaching islandwide.”

Bernard says she owes much of the success she’s had in her general life thanks to her love for people, mentoring youngsters and keeping supportive persons in her circle of

“BFFs” (best friends forever), adding that while she has no children of her own, all her friends’ children are her children. But netball and the management of the sport will always be her true passion.

“I didn’t think I could cope [being JNA president] with all the responsibilities I have in life, but I have developed coping skills. I am not a quitter. Moreover, the support is growing.”