Woh, we’re going to Barbados! (From News Shopper)

Woh, we’re going to Barbados!

3:50pm Monday 7th June 2004

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TELSTARS netball team might not be flying on Coconut Airways, as Typically Tropical did with their 1975 number one hit, Barbados, but it still plans to tour the sunny Caribbean island.

The Dartford-based club, which was founded in 1996 and competes in the North West Kent Netball League, plans to take part in the island's Summer Fest tournament next month as part of its end-of-season tour.

The competition was previously only open to teams from Barbados, but in the last three years netball clubs from all over the world have been allowed to participate.

Telstars' coach, Anita Hollman, believes it will be the perfect way for the club to round off yet another successful season.

The under-18 team won its league and was promoted to Division 4, while the under-16s moved up to Division 8.

Hollman, a 51-year-old civil servant from Dartford, says they are not going to the tropical island just to make the numbers up, so sampling the local grog and topping up on the tan will have to wait until the second week of their visit, when the competition is over.

"I fancy our chances to win it," said a confident Hollman. "It is going to be quite competitive but we're going to have some fun too.

"We're training at the moment and we're preparing ourselves to acclimatise to the conditions. So that'll be factor 90 sun-tan lotion, and a 13-gallon drum of water on your back," she quipped.

Trivia buffs will be interested to know that netball was invented in 1891 by Canadian Dr. James Naismith, in America, as a variation of basketball.

The sport was first played in England at Madame Osterberg's College in Dartford.

The college later became Dartford PE College and is now part of Greenwich University. Netball was introduced to Barbados in the 1940s and is now the most popular female sport in the Caribbean.

England are third in the current world rankings behind Australia and Jamaica, with Barbados standing seventh.

"We've done tours to places like Wales and the Isle of White before, and the girls have been thinking about going on tour to Barbados for a number of years," added Hollman.

"Most of them are going off to university this year and we thought it would make a good finale until they come back again.

"We found out about the trip in an All-England Netball Association's magazine. In the back of it there was a company advertising trips abroad.

"We noticed there was a competition called the Summer Fest. Initially, it was just for people from Barbados, but they opened it up to other teams three years ago.

"They run it on an Olympic basis and it opens with a ceremony at the Sir Garfield Sobers Cricket Centre.

"The competition is over one week and we play at least five games.

"We are taking two teams, this year's under- 16s and last year's under-18s. And yes, we're really excited and looking forward to it."

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