The following is a report of the activities of the COURTS All Sectors Netball League for the year 2025.

The COURTS All Sectors Netball League completed its thirty-fifth season on March 30, this year, and is pleased to report again that the season was successful but with a few more challenges than expected, mainly defaulted games. These were virtually nonexistent in recent years. The League was conducted at its usual venue, the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena where all the games were held.  

The Management is pleased to report that all the Clubs that played in 2024 returned to play in 2025 and the structure of the League remained the same. The Divisions are the Premiership, the Championship, and the Alternative. Cash prizes were once again awarded in the Premiership Division.

There was no change to the Management Committee when the Annual General Meeting was held in November of 2024. However, it was agreed that Ms. Dianne Pascall should be coopted to the Committee in an effort to add some capacity.  There was also no change to the Council. All Clubs were represented at the Annual General Meeting and members were very satisfied with the performance of the League’s leadership teams. The President of the Council is Ms. Sharon Wilson of Bermudez United, and the Secretary is Ms. Lilia Mathurin Cameron of Jabloteh. The Management Committee comprises Ms. Carol Demming Gittens; Ms. Giselle Darlington; Ms. Patricia Butcher; Mr. Kenneth Butcher, Ms. Brenda Prince, and Ms. Vanessa Forde.

The League is extremely grateful for the continued support of our main sponsor Unicomer (Trinidad) Limited (COURTS), and of our many stakeholders. The general membership comprised nineteen (19) teams this year. Noteworthy is that the Premiership Division remained at four teams. Male players were facilitated in the COURTS Knockout and in the Mixed teams’ fun games at the Closing Ceremony. Similar to last Season, this policy was based on a decision taken at the Annual General Meeting 2024.

TEAMS

Four (4) teams played in the Premiership Division. There were seven (7) in the Championship, and eight (8) in the Alternative.

The Alternative Division comprised of Defence Force, Fire Youth, Police Netball Youth Club (PNYC), Police, TT Post, University of the Southern Caribbean (USC), the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) and the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT).

In the Championship Division were Bermudez United, Defence Force, MIC Tigers, PNYC, Police, the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and the newly promoted, the University of the West Indies.

The Premiership Division comprised Jabloteh, MIC Tigers, UTC, and UTT.
It was unusual that both the Defence Force and Police teams could not participate in the Premiership Division this year; no doubt due to exigencies of service. However, both Jabloteh and UTC stepped up and certainly gained a lot of experience in so doing.

VENUE                        

The League returned to the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena (ERISA) for all its games this year. Many of the previous glitches were resolved including electrical and plumbing. The space was adequate but there remains some concern for the safety of the players regarding the gym equipment that is stored on the grey area of the premises. In addition, the Officials Changing room was made available early and the League managed to conduct its affairs in a safe and secure environment. The newly painted walls together with improved lighting at the facility truly enhanced the indoor environment.

A major concern remains though regarding the rental of the facility. The rent had more than doubled, given what was paid last year, and negotiation with the SPORTT Company was protracted. Eventually the Ministry of Sport and Community Development made possible a waiver of their side of the payment and understandably the League is truly grateful.

It must be noted too that the participants of the League cooperated fully with any contingency presented, especially the occasional inappropriate parking by spectators.

OPENING CEREMONY

The Opening Ceremony took place on Saturday 04 January 2025 at 3.00pm at the Venue. The Fire Service band once again provided the musical accompaniment for the March Past.  On the saluting base for the March Past were Ms. Renele Forde, representative of the Ministry of Sport and Community Development; Ms. Sherry Ann Blackburn, President of Netball Trinidad and Tobago (NTT), Ms. Naresha Ali, representative of COURTS (Unicomer TT Ltd), and Dr. Patricia Butcher, Member of the Management Committee of the COURTS All Sectors Netball League who assisted the dignitaries with the inspection of the parade. The dignitaries brought greetings and offered best wishes for the League. The President of Netball Trinidad and Tobago declared the Season Open.

The judges of the parade were Ms. Stacia Scotland Elliott, Ms. Dianne Pascall and Ms. Rhona Mohon. The League expresses its appreciation to them and to all those persons who assisted in making the Opening Day Ceremony a success.

The TT Post team won this year’s parade.

In the Opening Day Knock Out competition, UTT won from UTC in the Premiership Division; UWI won from Bermudez in the Championship Division; while in the Alternative Division, UTT won from UTC.

COMPETITIONS

The arrangement of the competitions was as follows.

In the Premiership Division, as is customary, two rounds of the Round Robin format were played. One round of the Round Robin was played in both the Championship and the Alternative Divisions. As usual, the competitions in both Divisions were keen and exciting. Results were not known until the final games were played.

The competitions for the Jean Pierre and Steve Sarjeant Challenge trophies were once again played as straight Knockouts. However, the timeframe of the games for these Knockouts was increased to one hour.  The Fast 5 games were played as a double elimination Knockout in each of the Divisions.

League games, except for those in the Alternative, were of one hour’s duration. The duration of the games for the Alternative Division was forty minutes, four quarters of ten minutes each. As indicated, teams in the Premiership played each other twice to determine the overall placing for the League trophy and the Cash prizes; and the Championship and Alternative Divisions played one round, based on the number of teams.

Apart from the Knockouts for the Steve Sarjeant and Jean Pierre Challenge trophies in the Premiership and Championship Divisions respectively, there was the Divisional Knockout in the Alternative Division which was played in two halves of fifteen minutes each. In the COURTS Open Knock-Out two halves of twenty minutes each were played.

Also featured were the Opening Day Knockouts at the beginning of the Season and the Mixed Teams Knockout at Closing Ceremony. The FAST 5 competitions for the Justin Bowen trophies were played in all the Divisions.

The majority of the games were extremely competitive and thrilling, especially in the Championship Division, and as expected, the standard of the games seemed to improve as the Season progressed. As demonstrated over the years, the League provides a tremendous platform for all players, especially for senior and aspiring national players.

The results of all the competitions are in the Appendix.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

The broad objectives of the League include increased player participation, increased number of technical officials, increased media involvement, increased intensity of the game and performance of players, improved quality of competitions, and strict observance of the Code of Conduct.

In respect of the above, management has noted both levels of interest and concern from participants, and consequently is able to present the following.

Player participation did not increase this year. As indicated earlier, both the Defence Force and Police teams did not field teams in the Premiership Division and further, four (4) different teams have defaulted games this year.    Discussion with the leadership of these teams revealed that the reasons for nonparticipation ranged through exigencies of service, injury, personal contingencies, lack of motivation and indiscipline. It is encouraging though, that their overriding objective is essentially to regroup, restructure and return.  

Regarding the technical officials, both the umpires and scorers have remained dependable and performed to the best of their ability. Midway through the Season, one of the scorers fell ill and was taken to the hospital, but she is now stable and recovering well at home. Coaching of the technical officials was provided as required, particularly to the umpires. A couple of them showed promise including a new preliminary umpire who has developed considerably. Management also needed to invite an international umpire, from within the Region, to umpire one of the Premiership games, in order to ensure an increased level of neutrality in one of the very keenly contested games.

Media coverage has been tremendous as usual, and although statistics are not available in respect of airtime on all three of our local television stations, feedback suggests that airtime was relatively generous. TTT and CNC3 were extremely engaging. Regarding print media, two scrap books were used, which is great given the challenges. Certainly, this standard is being maintained.

A decision was taken at the AGM 2024, to include male players in the COURTS Knockout and Mixed teams Knockout on the Closing Day. Consequently, male players were allowed registration on each team but only two were allowed on court during the game. As expected, the presence of male players on court brought about different playing strategies which sometimes led to greater intensity and fun for all involved, especially the spectators.

There were a few breaches of our Code of Conduct this year. The umpires on occasion, needed to suspend players for serious on-court infringements but generally, umpires maintained good control of both on-court and team-bench behavior. As previously mentioned, there were a few defaulting games amounting to about two percent of the number of matches played. Teams paid the penalty and apologies were made to stakeholders.

CHALLENGES

As outlined above there were a few challenges this Season mainly relating to defaulting teams and the rental of the venue. Management also noted that to further develop the League and netball in general, there is need to continue to negotiate with the SPORTT company for a reduction in rental charges, and for additional time and space at the venue.

TRAINING

The Under 16 Youth Development Program took place this year with much excitement for those involved. Five (5) teams participated in the program. The objectives of the Program centered around the following:

• Building capacity – numerical, mental, physical, technical
• Increased player participation
• Motivational: Developing a love for netball and a healthy lifestyle

The League joins with all those who contributed to the success of the Under 16 team that participated and won for the first time the Regional Jean Pierre Under 16 tournament that recently concluded in Barbados. It is particularly gratifying for the League that some of those players participated in the COURTS All Sectors Under 16 Youth Development Program in 2024. Again, Congratulations to the team.
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ACHIEVEMENTS/INNOVATIONS

At the League’s AGM 2024, a few decisions were taken regarding the operations of the League including:

• The start time of games on a few Saturdays may be around 11.00am because of the reduced playing time on weekdays.
• Only the COURTS Knockout and Mixed teams Knockout would include male players.
• Guest invitations would be issued online only.
•  The Under 16 training program should continue.

Sponsorship from COURTS

Unicomer (Trinidad) Limited, (COURTS) considered the League favorably again with the signing of a contract with us for yet another year.   The League remains extremely grateful and will continue to do its best to ensure that it gets value for money while giving the company the mileage that it so richly deserves. 

The League thanks the Management of Unicomer (Trinidad) Limited, particularly, Mr. Shahad Ali for his unstinting support during his time with us, and now Ms. Naresha Ali, Mr. Tajh Maharaj, Ms. Cindy James and all those at COURTS who continue to encourage and support the League with this venture.

Fund Raiser

Teams continue to contribute the amounts requested. It is encouraging that a few teams scheduled and held fund-raising activities at the venue during the Season.

Obituary

The Management and participants of the League extended heartfelt condolences to Ms. Paula Daniel and relatives on the passing of her dear sister Susan who, over the years was instrumental in assisting with preparation of the refreshments for players on the Opening Day. May Susan Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory.

MEDIA COVERAGE

The media coverage this year was great as usual, especially the Print Media. We thank the sports journalists of the Trinidad Guardian, the Express, and the Newsday for the keen interest shown. We thank too the Television Stations, especially TTT and CNC3; TV6 and our online followers for their contribution and look forward to their continuing support of the League.

CONCLUSION

The participants of the COURTS All Sectors Netball League offer their sincerest appreciation to Unicomer (Trinidad) Limited (COURTS), and other stakeholders for the League’s success. Special thanks to the Fire Service Band for their services on the Opening Day; and the staff of SPORTT and the Ministry of Sport and Community Development for their helpfulness. Thanks too, to all officials, supporters, well-wishers, and others who contributed to making the Season the success that it was in 2025.