Development squad coaches named
Christopher Smart and Conrad Parks have been named as head coach and assistant coach, respectively, of the netball development squad which is scheduled to start training at the end of this month.
Both candidates went through an interview process and were selected from a number of interviewees.
Smart is the head coach of the St Catherine Racers of the Berger Elite League and won the SVL Major League title with his club team, Raven, out of Spanish Town in 2013. He is also a graduate of the NJ/UTech Level One coaching course.
“This is a pleasure and honour, to work with developing the next generation of young ladies to represent Jamaica at the Under-21 and senior levels. It will be challenging but I embrace and relish the challenge,” said Smart.
Conrad Parks, head coach at University of the West Indies netball team, won the SVL Major League title in 2010 and 2014. He also won the Intercollegiate Championships with UWI in 2008, 2010, 2013 as well as the UWI Games Championships in 2013.
Parks said: “The development squad is crucial to the continuity of success that the national programme has enjoyed over the years and we are determined to ensure that these ladies are given all the skills to continue to do so. It is a rich tradition of success that we have been entrusted with and improve on those successes.”
The development squad was formed to provide a feeder programme for the Under-21 squad (Netball Youth World Cup 2017 in Botswana) and the Sunshine Girls. This programme is key to succession planning as it relates to player personnel. It is anticipated that these players will grow their games learning proper techniques and skills so that when called up to the Under-21 or the Sunshine Girls squads, it will be a smooth and seamless transition.
Trials were held for the development squad on Saturday, June 28, 2014 with over 110 girls from across the island participating. The players were chosen by the national selectors Jill McIntosh, Minneth Reynolds, and Patrick Brissett.
Twenty-four young ladies were chosen for the squad. The squad will train one weekend per month until the end of the year and start twice-monthly training in January 2015.