Christmas came early for the Barbados Netball Association (BNA) with the body topping over 70 other countries in the world to win the International Netball Federation Data Refresh Exercise competition.
BNA president Nisha Craigwell could not contain her excitement in relaying the news to MIDWEEK SPORT.
She said that by Netball Barbados winning the competition, they will earn £500 of Gilbert netball equipment of the country’s choice. Over 70 countries are registered with INF.
“We constantly provide data as requested by INF as a matter of formality and even though a prize or reward is often mentioned, we give it little thought since we have never won anything in the past. I was surprised when an official from INF contacted us asking for additional information, which we provided.
“However, I was so shocked when I received the news this morning [yesterday] that we had won, I screamed,” stated Craigwell.
“This is a tremendous way to close out 2017 where our netball made so many positive strides. The continued growth of our junior programme, along with the upward movement of our world rankings and the successes of our senior teams and domestic competitions augur well for 2018.
“We are striving to build on those achievements as we look forward to the new season and the Commonwealth Games which will launch 2018,” added Craigwell. (KB)