Barbados Netball Tour
Twenty-two netball players and three members of staff travelled to Barbados during the February half-term break to challenge the Bajans at a sport they take extremely seriously. The Eastbourne College squad participated in two-hour training sessions each morning and played competitive matches later in the day. The three College teams each played five matches during their stay.
Eastbourne’s most experienced team met the Bajan National Development team in their first match. It was quickly evident that the visitors were in for a challenging week when they learned that three of the Bajan players were ex-internationals! The Bajan ladies teams were extremely tall, physical and tactically demanding on our senior players, but in true Eastbourne College style the girls fought hard and applied as much effort as they could.
As the week progressed the girls’ netball vastly improved and they began to adopt elements of the traditional Bajan style of netball into their game.
The final matches against Sion Hill were evidence of how successful the tour had been. The local community came out to welcome and support the College teams and commented on how talented the netballers were. With all three teams winning their final games, numerous goals and happy faces all round, it could not have been a better ending to a very successful tour.
Having exchanged many e-mail addresses and club contact details, the College squad is hopeful that the Bajans will visit Eastbourne as part of a tour in the not too distant future.
For more information about the sport, visit netball at Eastbourne College.
