Nicole Aiken-Pinnock, head coach of the national senior netball team for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in El Salvador, says the Sunshine Girls are confident, well-equipped, and ready to deliver the goods at the tournament.
The 24th staging of the CAC Games have already begun on Friday, June 23, but the netball competition will begin on Monday, July 3. Jamaica is scheduled to depart the island on Thursday for the games.
Aiken-Pinnock, who made her senior debut with the Jamaica national team, the Sunshine Girls, in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, stated that the Sunshine Girls understand that success requires hard effort and the requisite commitment.
“There is always room for improvement, and so we keep building on the mindset by having the ladies concentrate for a longer period of time and getting players to understand their roles and responsibilities, to which they are adapting well,” Aiken-Pinnock told the Jamaica Observer.
Aiken-Pinnock… It’s beautiful to see how hungry they are and want to do well.
“It’s beautiful to see how hungry they are and want to do well. The ladies are showing up, supporting each other, and holding each other accountable to ensure that we get the job done,” the former player of the game said.
Aiken-Pinnock, who captained the Sunshine Girls team to bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, stated that training has been going well for the girls and that she expects the players to progress further as time goes on.
“Training has been going really well. We have been intentional about what we are doing. The ladies are giving of themselves, and that is all we can really ask of them. We’re currently in camp, and it’s good to see players pushing themselves and making adjustments where necessary,” Aiken-Pinnock said.
Jamaica will kick up their campaign against Barbados on Monday, July 3 at 2:00 pm. They will face the Cayman Islands in Game 4 on Tuesday, July 4 at 2:00 pm, the Dominican Republic in Game 7 at 2:00 pm, St Vincent in Game 12 at 6:30 pm, and Trinidad and Tobago in Game 15 at 6:30 pm.
“Barbados will be our first game, and they are a physical team, so we are expecting that physicality for the entire game. We also know that they will be having some of the girls that will be going into the World Cup, and so they will want to give a good representation of their ability.
“And they will be working on combination, so therefore we will have to be consistent for the four quarters, concentrate on our strengths, and execute our game plan,” explained the 37-year-old Aiken-Pinnock.
