2024 Domestic Netball Season kicks off in Saint Lucia, know teams

Saint Lucia commenced the 2024 Domestic Netball season by launching the Independence Netball Classic in honour of its 45th anniversary of Independence. The games began on 28 January and will continue until 25 February 2024.

It is to be noted that the opening ceremony of the Independence Netball Classic was conducted on 28th January 2024 at 1:00 pm at Vigie Sports Complex.  The 10 teams in total will participate in the competition, which will be divided into three divisions.

The teams participating in the competition include Canaries, Little Sisters, National U16, Ruby Red, Shamrock, 1987 All-Stars, 2 Da Max, Avengers, Combined Schools and Egrets.

Notably, the Ministry of Youth, Development and Sports will sponsor two teams participating in the games, which include Little Sisters, coached by Coach Veran Alexander and Red Rube Darling, coached by Coach Jo-Ann Anderson.

Moreover, World Netball has also made certain changes and released 2024 netball rules, which came into play on 1 January 2024.  Initially, it was the fundamental rule of Netball that every pass should be capable of being legally contested.  However, the changed rule states that when a player passes the ball, there must be enough space on the court for an opposing player to be able to intercept the ball as it moves from the hands of the passer to the receiver.

The difference between the old rule “intercept by a hand” and the changed rule “deflect or intercept” is that the umpire must consider whether the defending player can make a genuine attempt.

Along with that, in the past, the ball had to pass completely through the ring before the whistle to be counted as a goal.  Now, after the rule changes, if the whistle to end play is blown after the ball has left the hands of the shooter and the shot is successful, the goal will be scored.

If a team believes the centre pass is being signalled incorrectly, the updated rule allows an on-court player to appeal to the umpires before the centre pass is taken.  Subsequently, the umpires will then check with the scorers, who will confirm the correct centre pass.  It is significant to note that the appeal can only come from an on-court player, not the bench or coach.

Furthermore, World Netball has also applied many other rules to improve and ensure fair gameplay for the teams.

Also, the motto of Netball Saint Lucia is to facilitate the development of the game of Netball through information sharing, guidance, training, networking and collaborating with all relevant organizations.