PACKED with confidence but not overly so. That is the mindset within the Jamaican camp ahead of today’s departure for the World Youth Netball Championships to be staged in Glasgow, from August 22 to 31.

Guided by head coach Oberon Pitterson-Nattie, the Under-21 Sunshine Girls hardly put a foot wrong in a recent triangular home series which included perennial rivals England and Caribbean adversaries Trinidad & Tobago.

Marvette Anderson, one of two assistant coaches travelling with the squad, insists that neither the coaching staff nor the players are getting carried away with those dominant displays.

“We are pleased with the performances of the ladies, but it does not mean that we are going to take England or any other opponent lightly. It is about bringing your ‘A’ game to every match and that’s what we are going out there to do,” said Anderson.

She continued that the normally formidable English team may not have been at full strength.

“In terms of their defence I think they were at their strongest, [but I am] not sure of their shooting area. I understand that their main shooter was out for that series. The girls know that England are going to be coming more prepared than when they saw them last.”

Many felt the home team’s defence was the major area of strength as Jamaica went unbeaten throughout the tournament, which offered useful preparation for the three participating countries.

The Jamaicans were also quite efficient in the attacking department, scoring with relative ease against both opponents.

Anderson, who is also the Queen’s School coach, was impressed with the Under-21s’ execution at both ends of the court.

“We were pleased with the way in which we were able to move the ball into attack. We were also pleased with the defending in that the other team was not scoring quickly so it meant that we would have been doing something defensively good,” she argued.

As the Jamaican netballers underwent fine-tuning at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in the build-up to the Youth Championships, she noted the areas in which emphasis has been placed.

“The preparation has been going well and the girls have responded very well to the training. We have some tactical aspects that we have been working on for the last couple weeks and that is coming together.

“We have been working on our centre passes and it’s one of the [important] things. Each team gets an alternate centre pass so we want to ensure that when we get out the centre pass that it will result in a goal. There is the movement of the players in the mid-court and the attacking areas and getting the ball to the [goal] shooter,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

The Jamaicans won the bronze medal after beating England for third place at the previous Youth Netball Championships held in the Cook Islands.

This time around they will have to get by hosts Scotland, Cayman Islands, Samoa and Wales in Group C before contending for medal places.

Anderson, who has been in the Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) coaching set-up a little over three years, presented an air of optimism. According to her, the future looks promising as many of the current crop filter into the senior team.

“In terms of fitness we are about 90 per cent there. In terms of mental preparedness I think the girls are focused, so it’s about 90-95 per cent there. They are aware and they play a lot of netball even though they are young.

“I think these ladies have been together, most of them, since about 2010. Most of them came through the programme together, the under-13, the under-16, so there issome level of friendship on and off the court.

“It’s a group for the future and I think these ladies are up to the challenge. These are the ladies that should take us into the future,” she said.

The team’s main sponsor is 3M Interamerica, while Gilbert Sportswear, Sports Development Foundation, Scotiabank, Petcom, Hi-Lyte Drink, GraceKennedy, Seprod, and Best Dressed Chicken have also been integral in supporting the netballers effort.

The total cost for the JNA — including air fare, food, transportation and accommodation– is $8 million.