WILDEY, Barbados — As the 21st Jean Pierre Caribbean Youth Netball Tournament gets underway at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, attention is not only on the talented young athletes but also on the urgent need for a dedicated netball facility in Barbados.
Dr. Carmeta Douglin, President of the Barbados Netball Association Inc. (BNAI), has been vocal about the challenges the sport continues to face following the closure of the Netball Stadium at Waterford in April last year, when construction on a new facility commenced.
In November, Minister of Youth, Sport, and Community Empowerment, Charles Griffith, confirmed that work was progressing on the multi-use facility, which is expected to support netball along with two other sports. However, no completion date has been provided.
“I was just asking the minister. He said he can’t give me any promises, so I don’t know exactly when we’re going to have this stadium for netball,” Douglin shared on the sidelines of Sunday night’s match between Dominica and Grenada. “But this is something that we need desperately, like yesterday, like the year before, you know, and we really can’t go on like this, not having that.”
The absence of a dedicated facility has impacted both the development of the sport and the ability to schedule matches effectively.
“When we have the netball stadium, you have three courts, so you can play six games in one night, using all three courts, you know. And then on Saturdays, there’s a tendency to play 12 games at one time.”
Currently, matches are being held across various community venues, which brings a host of logistical issues.
“Now having to play in the community is difficult, very difficult, because by the time you have one set of umpires and one set of officials going to one court and the next going to the other court, we can’t play [in] more than two venues, so it’s very, very difficult.”
Despite these constraints, Barbados continues to shine in regional competition. The national under-16 team—known as the “Baby Gems”—boasts a strong record at the Jean Pierre Tournament, having won their third consecutive title in 2024 by defeating Grenada in the finals held in Saint Lucia.
However, Douglin emphasized that consistent performance at this level requires more than talent—it demands infrastructure and financial backing. She is calling on corporate Barbados to get involved.
“For corporate Barbados to come on board and help us to go to places like Wales and to go to Jamaica and to go to different places to train it out, you know, that will be important to get enough funding so that we can play a lot of games in one year.”
She also highlighted the global growth of the sport and the need to keep pace.
“It’s all about playing, because we are competing on a world stage, so if the African teams are playing, they are going to be moving ahead of us, because even though they would not be playing against us, because they are playing more netball, they are moving up.”
Douglin stressed that the need for a dedicated netball arena goes beyond hosting tournaments—it’s also about providing consistent training grounds for all age groups.
“We have four teams, four squads in training—under-14, under-16, under-21 and seniors—and they have to train at different times, so therefore we need to have a venue where they can train.”
As the Baby Gems continue to fly the flag high on the regional stage, the call for proper infrastructure to support and sustain their success grows louder.
