The second edition of the OECS / ECCB International Netball Series saw the first official event taking place in the conference room at State House – home of the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica on Saturday evening February 12, 2022, with a candlelight ceremony.
Addressing the ceremony, Dominica’s Minister of Sports, Culture, and Community Development Roslyn Paul, said: “We are excited because we are now moving to a safe return of organized sporting events, and under special safety controls, with the OECS tournament being the first after a long halt in sporting activities.
“We are excited because this regional and internationally featured event is helping to showcase our country Dominica across the region and the world, and as a venue for such games.”
The OECS / ECCB International Netball Series is rotated annually among the ECCB member countries, with St. Vincent and the Grenadines hosting the first competition in 2019. Grenada took home the newly mined Gloria Ballantyne trophy. The tournament was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the raging coronavirus pandemic, but Dominica from February 12 – 18, 2022, will host the second edition at the Windsor Park hard courts in Roseau.
According to Sherma John, Country Manager for the the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Dominica, “The ECCB’s engagement with the netballers transcends that of a sponsor,a s it seeks to mentor the youngf athletes through the hosting of a personal development session during the tournament.”
The session is geared at empowering the participants to achieve their full potential by improving performance, and new skill and knowledge development.”
Her Excellency Loreen Bannis-Roberts, the special envoy for Netball Dominica told the assembled guests “It is important for us as a region to continue to support netball, the number one sport for women and girls in our Caribbean region. The ultimate goal is for our member territories to improve our international rankings by being within the top ten in the world. This is not an unattainable goal! This can be made possible through partnerships and collaborative efforts between the private sector, government, global partners, and each of us.”
Three of the six participating countries were arriving at the Charles-Douglas Airport as the ceremony was underway. Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda squads arrived on Saturday evening, while Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and hosts Dominica were already settled in their respective team accommodations.
The tournament gets underway on Sunday afternoon with three matches, following the official opening ceremony, expected to be attended by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt.
Robertson S. Henry is a multi-time award winning sports journalist from Saint Lucia, currently residing in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. His coverage of sporting events both locally and regionally, not just landed him the Sports Journalist of the Year Award on numerous occasions, but recognition from the International Olympic Committee in 2005.
Henry began his fulltime career in journalism with the now defunct Crusader Newspaper in 1994, and worked with the Voice Newspaper until 2007. He established the sports website sportcaraibe, and believes “sports is the fourth pillar in the socio-economic development of the Caribbean.”
Henry has also produced work for a number of regional newspapers including the Trinidad Guardian, Stabroek Newspaper of Guyana, and in 2010 did a photo-shoot of Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke for the Australian Herald.
