SVG Netball Association honouring legacy in National Club Tourney

The 2026 St.Vincent and the Grenadines sponsored National Netball Club Tournament is being staged under the theme ‘Honouring Netball’s Proud Legacy’ and was launched on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at the National Netball Centre, New Montrose.

Delivering remarks at the opening ceremony, President of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association (SVGNA), Natasha Baptiste stated: “This theme is deliberate. It is not decorative or sentimental, it is strategic. Legacy is not something we inherit casually. It is something we protect intentionally”.

“For decades, netball in St.Vincent and the Grenadines has stood as one of the strongest pillars of organised sport in our nation. Long before structured pathways were fashionable, netball was building systems. Long before global conversations about women in leadership gained momentum, this sport was producing female leaders of strength, discipline, and vision,” Baptiste pointed out to players, officials and spectators.

“ Our courts have shaped educators. Our programmes have produced administrators …and our national teams have inspired generations of young girls who saw in netball not just a game, but a gateway.

That did not happen by accident. It happened because of sacrifice, discipline, and belief from those who came before us.”

Baptiste went on to note that the association was honouring these administrators,”… who met in modest rooms with limited resources, but limitless determination,” coaches, “…who trained teams in the rain; umpires “…who upheld the rules even when it was unpopular”; and players, “…who represented this country with courage when resources were scarce.”

At present, St. Vincent and the Grenadines stands 18th in the World Netball Rankings, and third in the Americas Netball region.

The SVGNA president noted that this position “reflects not chance, but consistency, structure, and competitive excellence”.

Vincentian netballers have stamped their authority in OECS tournaments, and performed creditably as well at the wider regional level.

Baptiste however, noted that ,”trophies alone do not define legacy. When we speak about legacy, we must also speak about responsibility, particularly our responsibility to the next generation”.

She pointed out that the SVGNA has maintained a Division 4, which has provided an entry point for players and teams just getting started.

“ We have now dedicated that Division exclusively to youth development, rebranding it as the Youth Development Division. In doing so, we are proud to have engaged St.Vincent Brewery Ltd, through its Vitamalt brand, as a committed partner in adopting this Division,” Baptiste added. She said there are 11 teams competing in that division in the current tournament.

Baptiste also touched briefly on the government’s decision not to proceed with hosting the Americas Netball World Cup Qualifiers in October this year.

“As a National Association, we respect the authority of the government in balancing national priorities. At the same time, we recognise that this development represents a significant moment for our netball community. It is appropriate to feel disappointment. It is appropriate to recognise the sense of missed opportunity. But what is not appropriate is retreat. Because change is the only constant, and how we adapt to change can either build us, or erode what decades have constructed,” the SVGNA president stated.

“Those who built this sport before us worked with far fewer resources, yet they built structure, standards, and credibility. So the question before us is not whether change has come.

The question is, how will we respond? Our response must be strategic.”

Recently five Vincentian officials passed the Level 1 Netball Theory Examination through the Barbados Association of Netball Umpires.They are Michelle Sam, Shanique De Shong, Kayshorn Lowman, Akeil Matthews, and Kerry-Ann Small.