As of the most recent World Netball rankings, which were issued on March 1, 2023, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is presently rated number 17, having climbed three places from December 2022.
Natasha Baptiste, president of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Netball Association, said, “This is excellent news for netball in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It demonstrates that hard work has beneficial benefits, but that does not imply we should let up on our efforts. We will not take any team in the region lightly, just as they will not take us lightly. We must continue to improve the image of netball in St. Vincent and the Grenadines through improved administration at all levels, quality training of all clubs and national teams, and by playing as many ranking matches as possible with the support of corporate partners and the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee and World Netball have demanded and continue to demand improved management of its members, according to Baptiste, who noted that the progress gained over the previous few months did not come without difficulty.
Baptiste noted, “The assistance we received from business St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Olympic Committee went a long way in assisting us in achieving our goals.”
“The support from Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves must be commended, which garnered positive comments from the immediate past president of Americas Netball Mrs. Marva Bernard in October of last year; it is evidence that when we all work together towards a common goal, the outcomes will make us all proud.”
A team’s rating is determined by its average performance across a series of matches. Each international match results in a specific amount of points for each side, which are then divided by the number of matches played to get a rating. The teams are then ordered according to their ratings, with the nation with the highest rating at the top of the list.
In the current World Rankings, matches performed between 1 July 2019 and 28 February 2022 have a 50% weight, and matches played after March 2022 carry a full 100% weight. Previous matches are excluded from the current ratings.
The yearly update of the rankings occurred on March 1, 2022, after 130 matches had been played, making the 20-month period from July 1, 2020 to February 28, 2022 similar to prior 12-month periods. The subsequent yearly update occurred twelve months later, on March 1, 2023.
