BY DANIA BOGLE

Observer writer

THIRTY-five players have been selected to train for the national Under-13 and Under-16 netball squads following trials at the Leila Robinson Courts at the National Stadium, yesterday.

The Under-13 Scotiabank Development Squad includes six new recruits, while 29 were chosen for the Under-16 programme.

The group includes selectees from Guy’s Hill in St Mary, Knox College and Manchester High in Manchester, STATHS, The Queen’s, Camperdown, Holmwood, as well as Herbert Morrison in St James.

The Jamaica Netball Association’s (JNA) High Performance Director, Maureen Hall, told the Jamaica Observer that she was pleased with the selection of tall players.

“Our only challenge as always with the youngsters is when we look at them we have great expectations whether or not we can keep them in the programme,” Hall said.

“Our only challenge as always with the youngsters is when we look at them we have great expectations whether or not we can keep them in the programme,” Hall said.

She explained that those challenges may include players being able to maintain a balance between playing netball and keeping up with their school work.

The players from rural parishes, as far away as St James, also prove a challenge, but Hall said the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) tries to accommodate them by having them commute and stay over at the Netball Chalet in Barbican on Friday evenings ahead of training on Saturday mornings.

“We also have concerns for some of the girls that live in Kingston because some of the areas are volatile where we would not want to send our driver at 5:30 in the morning,” Hall added.

The JNA will also be heading into the other regions of the country to stage trials.

“We want to ensure that is not only Kingston. The challenge is always money, but right now with the limited resources that we have we’re just trying to do the best we can.”

The players will be training although no regional or international tournament is on the horizon.