Aiken

Netball Jamaica's president Marva Bernard believes that the Sunshine Girls tri-nation series against New Zealand and England in January will be a big test for the local girls in their quest to win a medal at next year's Commonwealth Games in Scotland. The series will be played in England from January 17-26.

"It is a big one for us," said Bernard in an interview withStar Sports yesterday. "It gives England, New Zealand, and us a chance to play against each other before the Commonwealth Games in late July. It will also be the only time that we will face other before then, so it is good international practice for us," she said.

"We also need to go there and play in the arena that the Commonwealth Games are going to be played in, and also to play against England and New Zealand for the coaches to assess their players against these sort of competition," Bernard said. Jamaica finished fourth at the last Commonwealth Games, which was held in Delhi, India.

She added: "We will have Romelda (Aiken) and Jhaniele (Fowler) playing for us in this tournament. Romelda is going to come from Australia to join us in England, plus we will have other members of the squad being up for selection for this tour."

She also mentioned that her association will be hosting a number of fundraising events ahead of the series, which is set to cost her administration a whopping $3-million to send the team to the tri-nation series.

"We are looking at airfares, visas and all the other cost involved in sending the team to the series," Bernard said. Accommodation, meals and transportation are not our cost and so we only need to get them to the competition," said Bernard.

The Oberon Pitterson-Nattie-coached Sunshine Girls, who were beaten 3-0 in their last home series against England in April, are ranked fourth in the world. New Zealand are rated one, while England are ranked number three.

The Sunshine Girls are down to compete in next month's FAST5 Championships, which will be held in Auckland, New Zealand.