Throughout the present conflict and controversy plaguing the Barbados Netball Association (BNA), the greatest ambassadors for the sport have been the players in the senior national squad.
There is something distinctly different about this group.
Many of them have been here before, in a team preparing for a major tournament while everything seems to be falling apart around them, but no one is jumping ship.
In the past, several players would have already left the national programme claiming they would never return. Some have done that already on more than one occasion.
This current crop have to be lauded for their level of commitment and I believe it all stems from their performance at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India where they were seventh overall.
Throughout the season, head coach Alwyn Babb kept saying there must be a distinct difference between the player in the national programme and the average club player.
This difference must be seen not only in the standard and style of play, but the way in which they react on court to what happens and to the umpires.
This group already stands out with their fitness levels. Teams are scoring 80, 70 and 60 goals in a netball match, something unheard of in many years, as the intensity from senior practice spills over into the club game.
I haven’t watched much netball this season, so the recent top-of-the-table clash between 2011 Premier League champions NCC Ballers and Pine Hill St Barnabas was a real eye-opener.
There was none of the malice usually associated with a game of this magnitude. There was tension. It was played with intensity and focus, but there was no malice.
The person who has stood out the most is national shooter Lydia Bishop.
I can recall several occasions when Bishop has had to discipline players when the umpires failed to do so.
In 2009 against Scotland in the Netfest Series, spectators on the upper level of the Wildey Gymnasium distinctly heard the sound when Bishop floored the goalkeeper then looked around innocently at the person lying on the floor.
Fay Sealy played Bishop tough and shared some blows. Bishop grew frustrated at times with the non-calls by the umpires, but she kept a cool head. Once, she flailed her elbows and caused Sealy to back off, but she never delivered the body blow.
At the end of the match, most of the players in the national programme who were still in the Netball Stadium gathered around Babb and there seemed to be no ill will among the players. They understand that the country is more important than the club.
What purpose would it have served if Bishop had floored Sealy then had to go and train with her the following day?
How would that have impacted on the team chemistry and the attitude of the other St Barnabas players who are in the squad?
These players have come a long way.
Eighteen months ago when this group was brought together, only six turned up for the first meeting with the new head coach, Babb. Now, an average of 18 players consistently attend practice sessions. Even those who know they won’t be making the trip to Trinidad and Tobago next week for the warm-up series or to the World Netball Championships in Singapore have not faltered.
These women are confident and they are enjoying netball, some of them for the first time in a long time.
They are eager to play and show what they have learnt and what they can do.
That is why corporate Barbados shouldn’t hesitate to throw its support behind them.
The sport has never been about the administrators and those with hidden agendas.
This group has a real chance to turn the fortunes of Barbados’ netball around and set a good example for their successors, the members of the Under-21 squad, some of whom have already placed their club before their country and are not attending practice sessions.
Don’t make the players pay for the negative actions of others.
