12th place?????????

When it was finally over, Barbados' position at the just concluded World Youth Netball Championship( WYNC) was not what the coach had expected.

After the first games' drubbing by the former champions and now second place team ( New Zealand), my friends here in Toronto were sure that the Barbados team was good enough for second in their zone.SILLY THEM !!

It is now public knowledge that the team wasn't second or third but a disappointing fourth winning one game against lower ranked Scotland. THAT WAS EXPECTED BY ME!!

I will not and cannot blame the players' under-performances or lack thereof on their part. However I can and will blame the coaches for the STUPID combinations that were confusing to me and I am sure, other people. Amazingly the lone goalkeeper ( GK) on the team was a non-starter in the crucial games. Not even as a shooter.

The statistics of the games played have shown that some of the players whom we thought were automatic starters apparently weren't considered. Interesting !!

Now who takes the blame?

Iconic!!

As I write this post, I am in the presence of former Jamaica national player,captain and coach Oberon Pitterson.

Unlike her oncourt persona,Oberon ( Obe) is down to earth,friendly and knowledgeable. She is visiting Toronto as a guest of defending champion Twilight Netball Club as they seek to defend their championship.

Also in the lineup for Twilight is former Jamaica national player Tiffanie Wolfe and ace Barbados shooter and Spooners Hill stand-out Lydia"Lebron"Bishop.

Coaching Twilight for Sunday's semifinal will be my brother Wendell Greenidge and Spooners Hill coach/trainer Alwyn Babb.

As they say in the land of wood and water,IT'S GONNA B A TEAR WAY!!

Lashes !!

I have never felt and always known that the U-21 team could not challenge their counter-parts from New Zealand in our opening game of the 2009 World Youth Netball Championships.

"I giddem 20!" Lydia said.
"I giddem 25!" Babb said.

Those were the scores my friends were almost adamant the team would receive. I on the other hand had given them 35. SILLY ME!!

In the end we were all wrong because New Zealand pummelled Barbados by an amazing scoreline of 78 goals ( 102 - 24). Quarter scores in the game were :

1st quarter - 24-9
2nd quarter - 54-16
3rd quarter - 78-23
4th quarter - 102 -24

We scored ONE goal in the last quarter which has never been done by any national team before on the international stage.

Prior to all this,my 'predictions' have placed Barbados in the final eight(8). Today ( August 12) we played arch-enemies Trinidad and Tobago in a must-win game after T&T lost to 6th ranked (at this level) Northern Ireland 43-45.

Should we lose,we will be in the bottom half ( positions 9 - 20) of the competition.If we win, my 'predictions' are on stream.

From here where?

When the IFNA released the global rankings last week, Barbados had improved by one ( 12th - 11th). What does this mean for our senior team?

Realising that the top 10 in the world will be automatic qualifiers for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, what plans are in place for the senior team to help with any further advancement?

It's widely known that the BNA is cash strapped and therefore inviting teams to compete against our senior team may be problematic. Similarly the only hope for the team to travel will happen if an invitation is extended to us.

Who extends that invitation is left to be seen.