Local netball dealt another body blow

The local netball fraternity was thrown into a state of disbelief when the much anticipated Division One encounter in the LIME Vincy Upgrade National Club Tournament between Vita Malt Maple and Western Union Mitres did not take place.

A fair-sized crowd had filled in the Kingstown Netball Centre at New Montrose, hoping to see the usual battle of the two top teams.{{more}}

But when umpires Moeth Gaymes and Godfrey Harry called play, officials of the Maple team indicated that they were unable to field a team, thus forfeiting the match.

Thelma Foster, a long-standing member of the Maple set-up, told SEARCHLIGHT that although they had a team to commence the match, some of the players were carrying injuries. Foster said they were only made aware of the players’ conditions when they turned up to the venue, hence their decision to go the route of forfeiture, rather than suffer a possible humiliation.

Foster, who also holds the post of games secretary of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association (SVGNA), regretted the situation, deeming it as “unfortunate”.

The decision by Maple meant that Mitres easily retained the league title, their sixth in the last seven years.

Mitres, who had an uninterrupted run of league titles from 2009 to 2012, were dethroned by Maple in 2013, before returning to the top last year.

With the Mitres/Maple match having no play, none of the other matches set for that day came off.

The preceding match should have featured Layou Golden Girls and Dutch Lady Clinchers in the Division Three knockout semi-finals, but the former did not show up.

According to a release from the SVGNA, “The SVG Netball Association is apologizing to its sponsor and netball lovers, and supporters who were left disappointed on Thursday evening after both scheduled matches in the LIME Vincy Upgrade National Netball Tournament were won via the default route.”

And, the previous day, Wednesday, Division One outfit ASCO gained easy points from Twilight Trading X-Ceed, who could not field a team in that division’s Knockout competition.(RT)