Police n-ballers defend regional title

The Police women won the championship after they secured an impressive victory over Barbados in the final last year.

This time around the Police women have been hustling to get in much needed practice at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo ahead of the regional competition.

Manager Sharon Clarke said yesterday that her team will be without a number of top players including the former "Netballer of the Year" Euphemia Huggins due to injuries.

She added also that key players Lystra Solomon, Nicolan Wilson, Terri Johnson and Marlene Jackson have also pulled out of the tour for various reasons.

However Clarke said that they are replaced by a number of younger players who have been in the team but have not tasted competition at that level.

Among them are talented Neishelle Hinds as well as Torrence Bernard, Leslie Ann Homer, Chevaughn Skeete and Tracey Regis.

The manager said she is also impressed at how the new players have been fitting into the team.

According to Clarke, the younger players are fit and probably ready for the tournament but she feels that, as a team, the Police women have not received the type of preparation necessary for such a competition.

She also expressed the view that while her team last year may not have been fitter than the present crop of players, they made up for in their experience what they lacked in fitness.

Clarke pointed out that the Police team were beaten in the opening match of the competition last year, but when they adapted to the style and level of their competitors they moved on to play unbeaten. Police have intensified their training schedule from twice a week to every day at the Mucurapo venue.

She claimed that although the team may not be as prepared as she hopes they will be, the Police team have always been a winning combination a trend the players will be forced to live up to.

The tournament will bring together the top two teams in each territory and the Police women have played in almost every play-off due to their dominance in local netball.

The other local team to play in the championship will be Defence Force.