Jamaica Netball Association

Cook Islands will host netball's World Youth Champs
Dania Bogle Thursday, April 10, 2008

THE International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) has decided that next year's World Youth Championships (WYC) will remain with the Cook Islands.

IFNA Finance Director and Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) president, Marva Bernard, who was in Los Angeles, California over the weekend at a board meeting of the sport's world governing body, told the Observer that the association had voted to leave the championships with the South Pacific island group after a presentation by delegates representing the country's netball association.

Bernard told the Observer that the go-ahead was given because Cook Islands reps said building of the tournament venue - which would be built according to IFNA's specifications - would commence in July this year and be completed by April 2009, two months before the tournament begins on July 14.

Cook Islands Netball will also receive solid backing from its government and assistance of building contractors from China in executing the plan.

Last week, IFNA boss, Molly Rhone said the association would need to make a decision on whether Cook Islands would keep the WYC, as none of the facilities for staging the championships had yet been started and the country had missed all their deadlines.

"The reports we have had up till now have not been encouraging," Rhone said at the time.

Cook Islands were awarded the rights to stage the 2009 tournament during the last WYC in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2005.