'We're Happy' - Jamaica Buoyed By Performance In Pool

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Jamaica claimed two silver medals and a bronze at this year's staging of the CARIFTA Water Polo Championships, which ended on Sunday at the National Stadium pool.

The under 15 boys lost 3-25 in the championship game to Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) to claim the silver medal.

Curaçao won bronze by beating The Bahamas 14-6 in the third place play-off.

The girls under-19 team also mined silver after going down 3-1 to T&T in their best-of-five series.

The boys under-19 team also captured the bronze medal, despite finishing at the bottom of the standings in three-team table. The Jamaicans also failed to win a game in this category, which was also won by T&T ahead of Curaçao.

Coach satisfied

Despite failing to win a gold medal, Jamaica's coach Lance Rochester is satisfied with their performance.

"We are happy with the overall performance of all the teams," said Rochester. "We were especially very pleased with the performance of our under-15 boys and under-19 girls teams because based on their level and their experience I thought they really did us proud."

Rochester added that the players have gained a lot of experience and exposure from the championships and he expects them to do much better at the Caribbean Island Swimming Championships in July.

"We did not win any of the age-group categories because of the lack of experience by our players," he said.

"Trinidad and Tobago won the championships not because they were better than us, but instead have a lot more experienced players than us," Rochester said.

"It was a good championships for us because a lot of the players gained valuable experience and exposure and they will certainly do a lot better in the future," he added.

Jamaica's Kristen Jones was voted best defensive player of the championship, while her teammate, Zhoe Kelly, was voted the best female goalkeeper.

Adrian Hinds of T&T won the leading scorers' award for netting 25 goals in the championship.

David Bryan and Sheldon Greene were Jamaica's leading scorers, as they netted nine and six goals, respectively