Netball players urged to move towards greatness

The 2025 National Netball Championships bounced off on Sunday, March 22, at the Nutricia Netball Centre, New Montrose, Kingstown with a ceremony which saw the representation of 30 teams.

Speaking at the opening, President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association (SVGNA), Natasha Baptiste told players, “Your development is in your hands. Every match you play, every skill you refine, and every challenge you overcome brings you one step closer to greatness. Train hard, play smart, and represent your team and sponsor with pride”.

She told supporters seated in the stands, “Spectators, your energy is a heartbeat to this tournament. Your cheers inspire, your presence motivates. Let’s fill these stands, rally behind our teams, and celebrate the sport we love. To the wider community, netball is not just a game, let’s all join hands together for the sport that we love here in St. Vincent.”

Patricia John, Marketing Manager from the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines, primary sponsors of the tournament, expressed the bank’s desire to see the sport flourish.

“For the last several years now, Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines Limited has wholeheartedly supported this tournament and we’re really happy to have the privilege to be back here again in 2025 as the title sponsors working side by side with President Batiste and her executive to advance netball here in St Vincent and the Grenadines. I was thrilled to learn of the theme for this year being the year of development which focuses on development at every level.”

Impressed with the number of teams at the opening, Minister of Sports, Orando Brewster, who took up the portfolio in July, 2024, told the gathering, “I will say wholeheartedly that one of the sporting disciplines that came to the forefront as soon as I was installed as the Minister of Sports here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines … and it shows the seriousness that the association brings to the table…”.

Having been challenged during the closure of the 2024 National Fast-5 Netball Tournament over the conditions of the netball centre, refurbishment work was carried out prior to the start of the 2025 tournament by Bacchus Construction, financed by the National Lotteries Authority. Brewster said there is additional work still to be done which is expected to take place during the weeks that the tournament is being played.

“I heard again the call for the indoor facility here in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and I have been working very quietly behind the scenes, and in April, we will have here on the ground some of the experts in steel frame construction … we will start with the process of retrofitting the most suitable site, which is the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex for us to have … our very own indoor netball facility.”

The Sports Minister also told the gathering that he was happy having “learned of the youth development programme that is happening here on a Saturday, for the grass roots programmes to be back on stream.

Speaking directly to the athletes Minister Brewster, “we want this tournament to be a tournament instilled in discipline; so we want both discipline and development.”

Thirty-one teams will compete in five divisions of the tournament.

The Coastal Adrenalin Male Division comprises three teams- A M Shottas, Advent Ballers, and Maca Crushers. In Division One are DHL Mitres, Maple Netball Team, National Properties Netters, and On Trac X Ceed Sports Club (1).

Division Two comprises nine teams- 3 J’s Valley Strikers, Bagga United, G Spot Bar Simple Netters, Inter-island Trading Inc. Mitres, Nature Care SVG Netters, On Trac X Ceed Sports Club (2), RSVG Elite Netball Team, San Souci, and Sion Hill Netball Club (1).

Division Three has eight teams – All Stars, Blaze Strikers, Clinchers, Fun Size Success Netters, Police Youth Club Ball Blazers, Sion Hill Netball Club (2), SVG General Services Ltd Maple, and Total Ten Technologies Netters.

Seven teams are in the Vitamalt Youth Development Division -Antonio Success Netters, Chachara Stars (Chachara’s Confectionery), Country Meet Town Maple, North Leeward Youths, Police Youth Club Rising Stars, Sion Hill Netball Club (3), and X Ceed Sports Club

In a Division Two match to officially open the tournament, G-Spot Bar Simple Netters lost to Sion Hill (1) 27 – 47; and in an all-stars clash, the male all stars defeated the female all stars 59- 21. Maca Crushers are the defending male champions, while X-Ceed Sports Club are defending female division one champions.