Butcher: TT players not overawed

THE TT netball team will leave today for a training camp in Wales, ahead of the 2019 Netball World Cup, which will be contested in Liverpool, England from July 12-21.

At the World Cup, TT will meet South Africa (July 12), Jamaica (July 13) and Fiji (July 14) in Group C.

Australia, who won the 2015 edition at home in Sydney, will participate in Group A, alongside Northern Ireland, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Group B will involve 2015 runners-up New Zealand, Malawi, Barbados and Singapore, while hosts England, Uganda, Samoa and Scotland will compete in Group D.

TT Netball Association (TTNA) president Dr Patricia Butcher, in an interview yesterday, said, “I think the girls are very excited to meet everyone out there. We have two foreign-based players, Samantha Wallace and Kalifa McCollin. We expect that they would continue to perform to the highest level.”

Butcher continued, “I expect that we would go out there and put our best foot forward. I don’t think the girls are intimidated at all. They won the qualifiers and, when they came back, they went to Jamaica and played pretty well. They’re very excited to go out there and meet every team that they’ll be faced with.”

The TT netball team had a final warm-up match against a combined men’s team at the Jean Pierre Sports Complex, Mucurapo on Friday.

Looking ahead to the Wales camp, Butcher said, “They will be playing (against) Northern Ireland, Malawi and Wales. They will also play for ranking points. We’re 10th on the table right now.

“At the last World Cup, we finished ninth. I’m very hopeful that we would do much better. The girls are all excited and ready for action.”

Asked about the financial support received by the team and the TTNA, Butcher replied, “We (got support) from First Citizens and Massy.

“The Government has given us the majority of the funds so that the team could travel to the World Cup (and) perform effectively.”

TT captain Rhonda John-Davis will be competing in her sixth World Cup, and Butcher touched on the value of the 37-year-old, on and off the court.

“Rhonda was coach of the Under-21 team that went to Botswana to the (2017) World Youth Cup,” said the TTNA president. “A lot of those players have been promoted to the senior team. Rhonda has a great influence on those players. They look up to her, they respect her, and she has been able to get a lot out of them.”

Butcher added, “I think it’s a bonus for us that Rhonda is still on the team, as captain, and she has some of those very players that she would have coached like the Seemungal sisters (Shantel and Shernece), Tahirah Hollingworth and Jameela McCarthy.”

TT team – Rhonda John-Davis (captain), Tahirah Hollingsworth, Jameela McCarthy, Kalifa McCollin, Samantha Wallace, Candice Guerero, Shantel Seemungal, Shernece Seemungal, Aniecia Baptiste, Shaquanda Greene, Onella Jack-Hill, Daystar Swift.