PRESIDENT of Netball Jamaica (NJ) Tricia Robinson says the Sunshine Girls will not be taking the teams lightly at this month’s Americas Netball World Cup qualifiers as it forms a very important part of their preparation and developmental programmes.

The Sunshine Girls, who are ranked third in the world, have already qualified for next year’s Netball World Cup tournament by virtue of their ranking.

The Sunshine Girls are scheduled to open their account in the nine-team tournament against St Vincent and Grenadines on Sunday at the National Indoor Sports Centre.

In the current squad only veteran, Captain Jhaniele Fowler was part of the country’s silver medal-winning team at the Commonwealth Games in August.

Robinson told the Jamaica Observer that despite the absence of a number of the country’s senior players she is confident the Jamaicans will give a good account of themselves in the tournament.

“We are taking it seriously because every time we take the court, we take our games very seriously,” remarked Robinson.

“Our development players will get an opportunity to play and we get to introduce them to regional competition,” she said.

“These games will certainly be good for us because these young players certainly did well against their peers at the recent CANA games and so let’s see how well they match up against their senior counterparts in the region,” Robinson shared.

She pointed out that the Connie Francis-coached Sunshine Girls have prepared well for the tournament and are raring to go.

“We expect them to do well and to play well and to give it their best. They have prepared well for this tournament and so I know that they are ready and raring to go,” Robinson assured.

The other members of the Sunshine Girls team are Gezelle Allison, Kelsey Jonas, Amanda Pinkney, Tafiya Hunter, Abigail Sutherland, Quannia Walker, Theresa Beckford, Mischa Creary, Crystal Plummer and Kimone Shaw.

The other competing nations are Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Grenada, St Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States. The top two teams at the end of the qualifiers will earn their spots to next year’s Netball World Cup tournament which will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, July 28-August 6.