Sunshine Girls take aim at Commonwealth gold medal

President of Netball Jamaica (NJ) Karen Baugh says Jamaica has everything required to capture the gold medal at next year's Commonwealth Games, and the Sunshine Girls are fully focused on making that historic breakthrough.

Baugh made her comments after Thursday's official draw for the championships, which will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from July 25 to August 2.

The Sunshine Girls, who won a historic silver medal at the last Games in Birmingham, England, in 2022, have been placed in Pool B alongside New Zealand, Wales, Uganda, Scotland and Trinidad and Tobago. Pool A features Australia, England, South Africa, Malawi, Tonga and Northern Ireland.

Baugh told STAR Sports the team is embracing the draw with confidence, and she believes that they have what it takes to win next year's championships.

"As the number three team in the world, we are not concerned about any draw, but we think it is a good draw. If you recall at the last Commonwealth Games, we were drawn with the number one team in the world, which is Australia, and we topped the group," he said.

"Our coaches and our team are not focusing on who we are going to play, but on us preparing to win the Commonwealth Games, and that is our high objective for 2026."

Baugh added that the team's ambitions go far beyond simply reaching the podium and therefore, they are very determined to achieve this feat.

"We are not just going to compete and be on the podium, we are going there with an objective to win the gold medal," she said.

"If you notice, the head of the Jamaica Olympic Association, Christopher Samuda, has already come out and said that he thinks that the Jamaica Sunshine Girls can win the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and we are right there with him, and that is what we are working towards."

Baugh pointed out that the tournament will be fiercely competitive, but said the Sunshine Girls will be ready for whatever challenges.

"Any team in the top five is going to be a tough matchup, so we are preparing the team for any possibility. We are hoping to have our full squad available for the selection, but we are preparing to build depth in the team to match up against any team in the best way that we can," Baugh said.

"The last Commonwealth Games, we made the final for the first and we got a historic silver medal for the first time. So we are aiming to be in the final for 2026 and win that gold medal this time around."

PRESSURE

The NJ president noted that there will be a lot of pressure on all teams aiming to be on the podium, but the Jamaicans will be prepared mentally and physically to deal with this pressure of expectations.

"There will be pressure on every team to make it to the semi-finals and not just Jamaica alone, because if you look at the international matchups, you will see that the teams are very close and their games are very unpredictable; and so this is good for all the teams in the top tier in the world netball rankings," she said.

As part of their preparations, the Sunshine Girls are set to face long-time rivals England in a two-match Horizon Vitality Series next month. The matches will be played on December 13 and 14 at the Copper Box Arena in London.