June Elite League to decide Sunshine Girls picks for Commonwealth and CAC Games

Places on the Sunshine Girls roster for this year’s Commonwealth Games and the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games are not yet settled, and Netball Jamaica (NJ) president Karen Rosen-Baugh says the association is preparing for a demanding five-week Elite League season starting next month.

The Elite League is widely seen as Jamaica’s premier netball tournament. Top local talent will compete for national recognition and to catch the eye of selectors before the major overseas fixtures.

“The league is going to start in early June and we are really looking forward to an exciting and intense competition this year, particularly because we have two international tournaments and so we have players vying for final selections on those teams,” Rosen-Baugh said.

Five sides will take part this year: four Elite League franchises and the Jamaica Development team. The line-up comprises defending champions Kingston Hummingbirds, Manchester Spurs, St Ann Orchids, St Catherine Racers, and the Jamaica Development squad.

Rosen-Baugh said backers were satisfied with how the 2025 event ran, which made renewing support straightforward.

“Last year, our sponsors were very happy with the arrangements and the publicity that we received and with the support at the matches. So it wasn't hard to get them back on board,” she said.

This season’s structure will not mirror earlier years, when squads were rebuilt through a full redraft. Franchises will largely keep last year’s cores.

“Each year, the players will go back into the mix and then they are drafted, but this year we decided that, based on how close the games were last year, you never could tell which of the teams was going to win. So most of the coaches will retain a good percentage of the players that they had from the team last year,” Rosen-Baugh explained.

“The others will then go back into the draft to pick the last three or four players. So we are going to have some continuity this year and so we are looking for really close matches and we are looking for real intense competition and an elite atmosphere,” she said.

NJ is still courting extra sponsorship to help cover running costs, which Rosen-Baugh put at roughly $6 million to $7 million per staging.

“We always need more cash to care and we need more sponsors to promote the value of elite competition in Jamaica,” she said. “Typically, we have to go online or watch a match on TV to see the best of the best, and we are trying to showcase the best that we have in five intense weeks of competition.

“We play the matches, typically, two days per week on a Friday evening and a Sunday evening, and we do need sponsors to come on board. We can assure that the sponsors will get bang for their buck,” Rosen-Baugh said. “It usually costs us in the range of $6-7 million to run the league. The players are paid a stipend for training and then they will get a match fee for each match that they play.”

Talks continue on whether overseas athletes who featured last year will return.

“Last year we had two players from outside of Jamaica but I can't confirm as yet if they will be back but, close to the competition, I will tell you more about that,” she said. “But that did add an extra element to the competition. One of these players became a crowd favourite and so it is something to look forward to and Jamaican players have their own supporters and they have maintained that throughout the competition.”

She underscored that every athlete currently on the Sunshine Girls panel must play in the league as part of build-up for the upcoming international assignments.