New competition to replace Netball Jamaica's Open League

Trelawny will be the only parish not represented in the inaugural staging of the JN Bank parish Open Netball League. The league was launched on Thursday at the JN Bank in Kingston. 13 parishes will be represented at different stages in the competition which starts on February 26. 162 teams will take part in the league with St Andrew and Clarendon accounting for 39 and 24 respectively.

“It means that more young ladies across Jamaica will get a chance to play netball and we’ll get a chance to see greater talents across Jamaica,” said Netball Jamaica president Dr Paula Daley-Morris.

The move to replace the Netball Jamaica Open League with the new format is well received by coaches, including Jamalco's head coach Winston Nevers.

“It’s a very good idea and we only need to execute it properly; this is something we had wanted to bring around the country for a long while,” said Nevers. The move to include high school teams in the competition has also gotten support from coaches at that level.

The league will see teams competing at the parish level, before advancing to the county level and ultimately to the national championship.