Often forgotten about in our sporting world are women’s sports, so this week I want to focus on a sport that is rekindling its popularity on the sporting scene netball.Netball started back in 1972, played on weekends at various schools, club grounds and our then National Stadium. It is a sport that reaches out to several young ladies, starting from Under 12s right up to senior level.Most clubs involved have more than one team and recently some schools have taken the opportunity to join the league, thus showing the Bermuda Netball Association’s (BNA) intentions of growing and improving the sport in Bermuda.What drove me to write about netball was the fact that something really positive happened recently and rather than focus on negative energy with some of our male sports I chose to focus on the positive energy in women’s sports. Reading in the Royal Gazette recently about our national junior netball team winning the Jeane Pierre Under-16 Netball Tournament in St.Kitts, I couldn’t help but be impressed and overjoyed that we had accomplished such a feat.So ladies you are not being overlooked and I want you to know that this is a major accomplishment. Well done, you are the start of giving netball in Bermuda the respect it deserves.This past week I had the opportunity to interview the BNA’s first Vice-President, Stacy Grant, about the current situation on netball and the future of netball in Bermuda.Q: What is your position and role in netball now?A: I am first Vice-President, Winter League Match Secretary and Summer League Match SecretaryQ: I see the young girls did exceptionally well in St Kitts. Give me some feedback on how long they had been training, who their coaches are, and who were the outstanding players?A: The team has been training since January with coaches Debra L. Saltus, and assistant coach Anthony Mouchette. I was the manager. All the players were outstanding as each did what they were expected to do ... they all did their job, but if I had to single people out I would pick Danielle Onyia who led the scoring with 59 goals and Khianda Pearman-Watson who did an exceptional job in defence.Khianda was playing goalkeeper in the game versus Anguilla where we only conceded two goals. Anguilla were getting the pass into the goal circle but Khianda was intercepting practically every pass.Q: How many teams does the BNA have in the league and when does the league start and finish?A: We have 11 teams in our Junior Division and eight teams in our Senior Division. Currently we have seven teams registered in our summer league. Junior and senior netball start in October and runs until March. Summer League starts in May and runs until the end of June.Q: Are there youth programmes in place, and if so can you tell us more about them?A: The majority of the players that participated in the Jean Pierre Under-16 Youth Netball Tournament in St. Kitts come from our Junior Programme and/or have come up through the programme. Our junior programe has approximately 100 girls playing netball on Saturday afternoons from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. We have Under-12s, Under-14s and Under-16s. We decided that in order to keep netball alive in Bermuda we needed to concentrate on youth participation.We would like to keep the nucleus of the team that went to St. Kitts together participating in overseas tournaments with a goal of making it to the Under 21 World Championships in Scotland in 2013. We have such tremendous talent in our young players that it would be a travesty not to harness and nurture it until maturity so that we can have outstanding netballers in the not so distant future.Q: What competitive tournaments do the girls play in and how are they funded?A: We have participated in the Florida Netball Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a fun tournament in Atlanta and twice in the Jean Pierre Unde-16 Youth Netball Tournament. We are given a government grant that goes towards our expenses but the rest of the funds have to be raised by the players and parents.Q: You have been around netball for years what would you say are areas of strength and areas that need improvement?A: The Junior Programme is definitely the strongest area. We have girls that really want to play netball and look forward to it. BNA will be having a Netball camp this year from August 15-19 for 10-14 years old that had 15 participants signed up before the event was released to the general public. This has got to be a good sign. The BNA has recognised this and is doing everything possible to keep the youth interested. Many of the current junior coaches are players that were a part of the first junior league that wish to see the sport grow.We need to improve on our coaching and umpiring. In addition to that, we need to get more locals qualified as coaches and umpires. Once our officiating improves so will our level of netball.Q: Is there anything else you would like to share concerning the future of netball?A: This would be my wish for the Bermuda Netball Association . . . it would be nice to get a permanent structure at Bernard Park East similar to what the Caribbean countries have. Nothing fancy, just something that will suit our needs, which is not much. We can cut the bank back to Marsh Folly Road and have a two-storey structure with cement seats for spectators on top and changing rooms and bathrooms below and a small office/storage area. This would be a major capital project for us that would require huge sacrifices and large sums of cash.From my interview with Stacy it is obvious that netball is growing and there is a keen interest from many. Like any other sport, money is an issue and I applaud the BNA for their efforts to give our young girls an opportunity to test their skills and be positive role models of Bermuda.In conclusion, right now during these times it is of the utmost importance that we give our children as many opportunities and activities to do in order to keep their minds occupied and to challenge them.While we all know that cricket and football are major sports that captivate many of our young boys and some of our young girls, if you haven’t considered netball then give it a try. It is another positive outlet for our young ladies.