Supreme Ventures Limited continued its support of sports in Jamaica and netball in particular with a $5m-sponsorship of the National Under-21 team to assist in their journey to the World Cup in Gibraltar in September.

Heather Goldson, Supreme Ventures Foundation director, said they have been a supporter of sports development in Jamaica for over 20 years.

“When we read of the plight of the girls, we decided we needed to step in and make sure they got there. As I said, netball has always globally punched above its weight. It is one of our biggest performers on the world stage, and so I think we owe it to our girls to support them,” said Goldson.

“We’ve been sponsoring sports at all levels. So not only youth development sports, but we’ve been the main sponsor for the national trials for a good 10 to 15 years now. We sponsor tennis. We sponsor swimming and, of course, netball and football,” she pointed out. “We’re one of the inaugural sponsors of the Jamaican women. So, these are very important and are dear to our hearts.”

There will be 20 teams competing, with Jamaica one of three teams representing the Americas along with Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago. The tournament will take place in two main competition venues in Gibraltar—The Tercentenary Sports Hall and Europa Sports Park, which was recently upgraded for the 2019 Island Games.

The event will take place from the 19 to the 28  of September, and Netball Jamaica, despite receiving this $5m sponsorship, is still short $7m.

President Karen Rosen-Baugh was very appreciative of the gesture from SVL.

“It’s very hard for me to put in words how appreciative we are. I mean, I was really excited when their foundation had heard our call and we’re attempting to get the girls to Gibraltar for the Youth World Cup. So, we are very grateful and appreciative of their support,” said Rosen-Baugh.

“Well, our shortfall, up to last week, was almost $12m, but the $5m definitely will help us to secure the tickets to Gibraltar, which is the other side of the world, too far away and pretty expensive to get to,” she pointed out.

“We have quite a few conversations going on in the background and hopefully, someone will come to the forefront, like, today, and we’ll be accepting some more handover ceremonies because we know that the girls have to get there,” she added.

“SVL are one of our biggest supporters. They have sponsored our divisional one league every year for a very long time. We are grateful for all the investment that they’ve made in netball and in sports over the years, and we are thankful that Netball is one of the recipients,” Rosen-Baugh reiterated.

National Under-21 representatives Evelyn Smith, Shaqwan Hamilton, Jessica Chaplain and Tamera Jarrett, along with coach Annett Daley and team manager Suzette Townsend, were in attendance.