Interview with Coach Cristine Bartley for women's' senior team

In a recent interview with the womens' senior team coach Cristine Bartley this is what she had to say.

Q As coach of the Natioanl senior team you must feel very proud that in your debut the Lady Humming birds got the silver medal.

I am very proud of the team and as a debut coach this is a dream start any coach would have wanted.

Q Where there any areas that you saw missed opportunities?

In the last game, the team did not respond quickly and effectively to Trinidad's game plan thus allowing them to score one goal in the last seven minutes of the game.  However we as thankful for the result due to the number of short corner Trinidad received in the final game the margin could have been larger.  So "Big up" to the short corner defence team.  Also we had some injury problem thus limiting the substitutions in the game.

.Q Tell us what happened in that last match?

In the last ten minutes there was a glorious opportunity to score when Trinidad goal was left opened and we did not make good use of the opportunity.  This was our best opportunity to score.

Q How was coach Leonard able to help, considering he is also the coach for the Doctors Birds?

Leonard has been a great helped in preparatory and competitive phase or the program. We discussed plans before, during and after each game.  Also we worked as a team for the benefit of the development of the game.

Q Captain Nicole Grant scored two in the tournament was she the highest goal scorer?

She is the highest goal scorer for Jamaica but not for the tournament.

Q We got a few complaints that team had too many senior players who were thought to be over the “hill” . How would you answer these critics?

The average age of the team is 25 year old, yes we have a few senior players but they never seem to be over the hill through out the tournament on and off the field.  Their experience and composure contribute to the result that we achieve at the tournament.

Q How did these players perform?

All these players perform to the best of their ability in each given situation.  Their experience and composure contribute to the success of the team especially Andrea Cobran, who most of us think is our most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament.

Q .Will you be trying to get overseas based players for the next tournament?

Definitely yes, if they are available, playing good hockey and is willing to play for their country. To add to that, one player  had shown some interest,however she had some injury problem,  therefore, we did not have any on the team for this tournament.

Q Do you have anything to add?

  I would like to see more of our local base players receive scholarship to overseas countries that is playing competitive hockey so they can get more exposure to international hockey.  This will help to develop our players.  Also it would be very helpful if past players could play a more vital role in younger players like adopting each player that is in the national program.

JHF News would like to thank you for your time
Paul Gascoigne