JNA appoints Walker, Anderson Under-21 netball coaches
BY DANIA BOGLE
Observer staff reporter
C Lloyd Walker and Mariette Anderson have been appointed head coach and assistant coach of Jamaica’s Under-21 netball team on four-year terms starting March 1.
Walker was in charge of the national youth squad between April and August last year, conditioning them in the final months of preparation for the World Youth Netball Championships (WYNC) in the Cook Islands, where they won a bronze medal.
“I understand it’s not an easy task and it involves a lot of work,” Walker told the Observer.
“These girls will be younger and we understand that they will need a lot of conditioning and a lot of coaching to get them to co-ordinate.”
Walker, who currently coaches Jetsetters in the national club leagues, also led Dunoon Technical to 13 straight titles in the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) Under-19 netball competition.
“We’ve more or less worked out a plan that will take us into year four,” Walker said.
That plan includes a series of weekend training academies, as well as monthly camps.
“(And) hopefully with the assistance of corporate Jamaica we will be able to manage two weekends with the intention to increase in year three to three/four days training per week.”
Prime Minister Bruce Golding recently gifted the JNA a long-term lease on a house located in Barbican to accommodate various teams in training.
“The Under-21 owes the JNA over a million dollars for housing because we had to camp here, there, and almost everywhere,” Walker told the Observer, explaining the importance of the acquisition.
Anderson coached The Queen’s School to Urban Area Under-16 titles in 2003 and 2006 and All-Island titles in 2007 and 2009.
She agreed that the new appointments would not be a stroll in the park as the pair had been given a mandate by Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) boss, Marva Bernard, to finish the top nation at the next WYNC in 2013.
“I know persons will be expecting results… it’s going to be a big task, but with the help of God I should be able to do it,” Anderson said.
Jamaica’s best finish at a World Youth Championships was second at the competition held in Wales in 2000.