Maryann Frederick, a dominant shooter in regional netball

Maryann Frederick has developed into one of the most dominant goal-shooters in netball, a fact acknowledged by many regional coaches. And she proved to be a critical cog in the makeup of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Senior Women’s Netball Team, referred to as Vincy Jewels, which retained their title as champions of netball in the OECS following the ECCB International Series which ended in Grenada on August, 31, 2025. Fredericks has been a national netball player for 18 years, having started at age 15 when she gained selection for the Under-16 national team.

It was her mother, and Godfrey Harry, the current coach of X-Ceed Sports Club of which Fredericks is a member who, just over two decades ago “pushed me into the sport because of my height,” she told SEARCHLIGHT in an exclusive interview upon her return from Grenada.

“My mom supported me from day one when I started. She was at every game even though she had to work. She made the time to come and support me, she will always say to me ‘you will lose some and you will win some’, and I always said to myself one day we are going to be on top and I used that as motivation, a stepping stone to my development,” she revealed.

“…it has done a lot for me and I’m grateful- gotten the opportunity to play in Jamaica, coaching, and having to pass on my knowledge to younger persons who want to play netball,” she added.

Frederick said she makes sure that she takes 1,000 shots daily because “I don’t think there’s any pressure as long as I keep doing what I’m doing….”

In February this year, Fredericks was signed up to play for Rockerz Sports Club in Jamaica. Speaking about that experience, she said “it was a lot more competitive than what I experienced at home…more physical and faster paced game. I learnt to be more aggressive, how to find the defenders and feel for them. In other words, mark the defender, don’t make the defenders mark you”.

Frederick is over the moon that Vincy Jewels has retained the ECCB International Netball Series title in Grenada, despite losing the final match 63-64 to Grenada at the Tanteen Hard Courts on Sunday, August,31, 2025.

“We are pleased of our overall performance and I’m very proud of the work each and every one of us put in and contributed to us retaining the title. It felt amazing, knowing you have the support system there with you to celebrate victory and not only victory but even when you lose they’re still there it just an amazing feeling.”

The ace goal shooter recalled that during the 2024 series held in St Lucia, in the final match of the tournament between the same two teams, she was laid out on the physio’s table writhing in pain at the end of the third quarter as attempts were made to bring relief to her lower back.

“… I got injured during the third quarter,” she shared, when one of her opponents “almost took me out the game, but I couldn’t just give up and let my team down. I decided to push through the pain which wasn’t easy because the after effect of the pain is worst.”

Her injuries was dealt with by her Rockerz Sports Club who told her that she was not “going back to St. Vincent the same way I came. We started hitting the gym every morning doing strength work, so I won’t have a repeat of getting injured, and it’s truly a blessing because I haven’t had any back pain since then”.

Frederick aims to assist in any programme to “develop the younger one so they can also be a big part of St Vincent and the Grenadines’ victory someday to come”.

To the upcoming and aspiring young netballers, she had this to say: “Stay focussed and reach your goal. Continue working hard; don’t make anyone tell you anything less about yourself, be your own motivation or have someone you know you can count on to be your support system, and always be disciplined”.

At the end of the 2025 ECCB International Netball Series, Frederick received the award for being the Most Accurate Shooter-with a shooting accuracy of 92.06 percent, netting a total of 429 goals from 466 attempts, from nine matches played. She was also judged to be the Most Valuable Player for St. Vincent and the Grenadines; and also received the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.