New Guyana Netball Association head -Ailene Bowman

NETBALL, once a cherished national pastime has been dormant for a number of years.

However, a new team of former players led by new President Ailene Bowman is seeking to do what many have failed to accomplish, the rebirth of the sport.
The first initiative was a holiday summer camp through Bowman’s Triple A Academy club which concluded on Wednesday at the National Park Tarmac.
Ailene Bowman says her passion is to see the sports return and the camp is the first move in her master plan to resuscitate the once formidable local sport.
“The plan that I have for Netball is to bring it back to Guyana to stay, work with schools, to work with young people, my main focus is working with children from ages 7-21 and not only in Georgetown and not only schools in Georgetown but I will start with three regions and then expand to the other regions, no one will be left out.”

She says that one of her objectives is to get both genders involved as she looks to re-develop the following of years passed.
Bowman says she recently represent Guyana at the regional meeting, where she was able to build linkages and get hands-on training on hosting quality competitions
“I was invited to my first executive meeting in April in St Lucia, which was sponsored by the GOA at that training and tournament meeting, I had the privilege of meeting, all the other presidents from the Caribbean and the president of the American Netball Association,”
She said it proved a rewarding experience, “from that training, (I learned) how to sparehead tournaments, I was selected to run off the youth tournament in Guyana for the next two years.”

She says her focus now is to get into the school system as she seeks to grow from the ground up and help netball reclaim its place in the country and become a sport of choice for many in Guyana.
The other member of the executives are Vice President Aubrey Osbourne, Secretary Tamia Hercules, Treasurer Stacy Grant, Assistant Secretary/ Treasurer Donnette Boston, technical advisor Wainwright Hicks and player representative Lawshawana Johnson.