– CNA President Kathy Harper Hall
By Tiadi Blair
Caribbean Netball Association (CNA) President Kathy Harper-Hall says the future of netball is in the hands of women in the Caribbean if they wish to see the sport become more recognized by all in the region.
Harper-Hall has served the CNA since 1972 in various capacities, playing the part of vice-president and secretary. She has been the president of the body since 1996 and says the challenges have remained the same over the years.
She was speaking to Stabroek Sport while aiming her comment at women, governments and corporate bodies who she believes have paid little attention to the predominantly women’s sport.
She said the challenges for the CNA includes finance which is not just the case with netball in Guyana but countries like Grenada, Antigua and St. Kitts and Nevis who were also unfortunate to miss this year’s under-16 tournament held in Jamaica.
In her opinion, netball does not get the recognition it deserves from the hardworking people behind the scenes and this happens across the region. The fingers were pointed at both governments and corporate bodies.
“When netball has functions there is the speech from special invited guests, they come and give their speeches but there are no opportunities provided for netball. The support given is also inconsistent as we saw in 1991 to 1994 when High Gate Chocolate sponsored netball in the Caribbean.”
Prior to that netball has not seen sponsorship of that kind, making i t difficult to provide any competitive stage for the sport while many still have a misconception that netball is a game that women play for fun.
She noted, however, that help is being afforded to the sport but not like the ever popular cricket and football.
Jamaica is already in a league of its own where sport is concerned and much of their success lies in their approach to sport. The Jamaican national team is ranked number four in the world with the likes of netball giants Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
At the same time she said there was still more investment being made for the men in comparison to women.
“In Jamaica sport has become a way of life and their whole approach is very different to other Caribbean countries,” she concluded.
