The Cayman Islands national netball team split their eight matches at the third annual ECCB International Netball Series in Antigua.
The tournament, held 30 Sept.-7 Oct., featured nine netball teams from across the region competing for the Gloria Ballantyne Championship trophy.
“The Cayman Islands are currently ranked 34th in the world and three of the four teams we beat in this competition have a higher world ranking than [us],” Cayman team captain Katherine Gow told the Compass. “I was exceptionally proud of the girls and the effort they continued to put out on court throughout a gruelling eight-day schedule.”
Cayman got off to a tough start, losing 60-42 to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. On their return to the court, they thrashed Montserrat 82-11 – Cayman’s most dominant game of the invitational tournament.
The ups and downs continued with the team losing to Barbados 63-24, before bouncing back to best St.Kitts and Nevis 53-45, and then falling to Grenada 57-41.
Again, Cayman came back strong after the loss, defeating St. Lucia 44-33. Then, in one of the more exciting games of the tournament, Cayman outlasted Antigua and Barbuda 47-43.
Row said that in previous tournaments her team would have faded in the latter stages of matches due to fitness and injuries, but this time, that was not the case.
“That shows remarkable progress,” she said.
The national women closed out the competition on Saturday, 7 Oct., with a tight match against Dominica, where Cayman was edged by a single point 55-54.
“To go out and win four out of eight games surpassed our expectations and is a fantastic achievement,” Row added. “The younger squad members were extremely valuable and did an excellent job of entering games and making an impact.
“The squad put out eight very impressive performances against some very strong competition and we are very proud with what we have achieved. It is time now to build on this success and keep improving as we have proven we have a lot of talent.”
Row added that the team is ‘hungry’ to continue developing and come back stronger for next year’s competition.
The fourth ECCB International Netball Series will be held in St. Lucia in 2024.
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