PHILIPSBURG--The Rev. John A. Gumbs (JAG) Campus was crowned the
2018 Netball champs at the L.B. Scott Sports Auditorium on Sunday night. The JAG Campus defeated Sister Borgia Primary 9-5 to lift the inaugural championship trophy which was organised by the St. Maarten Netball Federation.
The tournament fielded seven primary schools, namely: JAG Campus, Sister Borgia Primary, Browlia F. Maillard (BFM) Campus, St. Maarten Seventh-day Adventist Campus, St. Joseph Primary, St. Dominic Primary and Hillside Christian Primary.
On Sunday, St. Joseph beat St. Dominic 7 to 3 for fifth place while BFM Campus outplayed St. Maarten Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) 12 to 5 for third place.
Quite interestingly, the JAG Campus lost only one match in the preliminary round and that was to Sister Borgia which won 2-1.
The final between the two teams was keenly contested as the defence of each team kept the other out. The JAG Campus finally broke the deadlock with 5:45 left in the first quarter. And although JAG Campus went to 3-0, the eventual sub-champion scored its first goal in the second quarter with 4:55 left in the second quarter. Sister Borgia introduced a different Goal Shooter in the third quarter to experience its best quarter (3-1). They outplayed the eventual winner and crawled as close as 5 to 7 as the noisy crowd had its wildest ecstasy that went on for more than a minute. The raucous crowd on many occasions prevented the players from hearing the whistle as the girls battled to keep their focus.
It took two well taken, under-pressure shots from Shervanna Diedrick in the fourth quarter for JAG Campus to cement the lead with a few seconds left on the clock. When the buzzer was sounded, it was now time for the JAG Campus supporters and players to express loud cheers and screams for the hard-fought win.
During the presentation which was attended by Head of Sport Department, Jonelle Richardson and former NSI Director, David Forsythe, individual and team awards were given out. The best shooter was Diedrick, the most valuable player (MVP) was Chinasa Ejingiri from JAG Campus , the best defender was Leidy-Laura Celadilla from St. Maarten Seventh-day Adventist Primary School and the most disciplined player was Carla Arndell of Sister Borgia Primary. The President award was given to Ejingiri. The most disciplined team was St. Dominic Primary.
The coaches went to the schools on voluntary basis to introduce netball to the girls. The coaches were Lisa Timothy and Katherina Gumbs at JAG Campus, Aisha Violenus and Timothy at BFM Campus, Violenus at Sister Borgia, Jeanel Landefort at St. Maarten SDA School, Gumbs worked with the St. Joseph Primary School, Timothy also coached the St. Dominic Primary School girls and Kayla Robinson at the Hillside Christian Primary School.
President of the St. Maarten Netball Federation Javon Edwards was high in praise for the work done by the coaches in such a short time.
The Netball Federation plans to conduct a bigger and better programme in the next school year.
