THE STVINCENT and the Grenadines National Female senior netball team is aiming to qualify for the Netball World Cup in South Africa, thereby giving St. Vincent and the Grenadines its best independence anniversary gift.

The team leaves for Jamaica on Wednesday, October to seek to qualify for one of the two available spots to the World Cup.

And president of the St.Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association, Natasha Baptiste said: “We are confident that we have what it takes to qualify because the young ladies are mentally prepared for this task.”

Baptiste told SEARCHLIGHT “We want to bring back an independence anniversary gift to the nation because we return to the country on the 26th October, and we really want to bring that gift back for our people.The young ladies have been coming to and they have been giving up their best at all the training sessions.”

The two qualifying teams will join Jamaica to travel to South Africa for the World Cup.

Baptiste said the team’s captain and vice captain “will work with the team’s management in bringing out the best in the players, with one goal – which is qualification for the Netball World Cup in South Africa in July 2023.”

Over the past few months, the Vincentian netballers were engaged in extensive preparations under the guidance of head coach, Godfrey Harry and assistant coach,Vasha Adams along with other members of the training committee.

A number of corporate entities and individuals,including Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves have made contributions towards the preparation of the team.

“We are grateful that some of our corporate entities have come on board to assist us because it is not easy to travel within the region. And when you have to travel with a large contingent you can imagine how much it is costing,” captain Ruthann Williams said.

The 12 member team had its final training session yesterday, October 10 before their departure on Wednesday.