Candice Guerero scooped the big honours at the Courts All Sectors Netball League’s awards ceremony at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Tacarigua on Wednesday.
The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) centre received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the league and emerged the MVP of her team and was also the best centre-court player of the Premiership Division. She was named on the senior All Star team.
Guerero said that it was rewarding that her team repeated its clean sweep of all titles in the division including the League, knockout, Steve Sargeant Challenge and the Fast 5 and that she was surprised to cop the top netballer prize.
“Winning the award was a surprise. It was really unexpected but I appreciate it. This is not the first time we did a clean sweep so we came in with the same attitude from last year. We bonded, we pulled it together when we needed to and we pulled it out again,” she said.
It’s the second time that Guerero, the national centre, has claimed the award, having picked it up in 2012, the year she led UTT to its first sweep—the league, Fastnet and the opening day knockout competitions. Despite her successes, the southerner is not satisfied and intends to put in more individual work.
“My plan personally is to get back into the gym, build my strength and work on fitness otherwise. I’ve been out of it for a while since returning from world tournament but I’m going to put in the work,” Guerero said, looking ahead to the rest of the season.
Her teammate Kalifa Mc Collin, another national player, had the best individual shooting average of 87.45 per cent which helped the Bridget Adams-coached UTT team walk away with best shooting average team award. National captain Joelisa Cooper of Police X was second best with 77.12 and third was national shooter/defender Afeisha Noel with a 76.47 shooting per cent accuracy.
McCollin was also named on the All Star team with Guerero as well as their teammates Jellene Richardson, Daystar Swift and Kielle Connelly. The others include Cooper, Rhonda John-Davis, Leslie Ann Bacquain, also of Police X, Fire Services trio Noel, Onella Jack and Amanda Cameron and Patrice Goring, the lone player from Police Y Jack was named the best defender of the top division.
Honour Roll
MVP: Candice Guerero (UTT)
Premiership Division
League Trophy: 1 UTT, 2 Police X, 3 Fire
Steve Sargeant Challenge: UTT
Divisional Knockout: 1 UTT, 2 Police X
Fast 5: 1 UTT, 2 Fire
Opening day knockout: 1 UTT, 2 Police X
Best centre-court: Candice Guerero (UTT)
Best defender: Onella Jack (Fire)
Best shooting average (Team): UTT
Best shooting average (Individual)
1 Kalifa Mc Collin (UTT) — 87.45 per cent
2 Joelisa Cooper (Police X) — 77.12
3 Afeisha Noel (Fire) — 76.47
MVPs: Candice Guerero (UTT), Onella Jack (Fire), Rhonda John-Davis (Police X), Nichelle Hinds (Police Y).
Championship Division
League Trophy: 1 Fire, 2 UTT, 3 Jabloteh
Jean Pierre Challenge: UTT
Divisional Knockout: 1 Fire, 2 UWI
Fast 5: 1 UTT, 2 Bermudez
Opening day knockout: 1 Fire, 2 Defence Force
Best centre-court: Kurtisha Hoyce (Bermudez)
Best defender: Shaquanda Greene (UTT)
Best Shooting Average Team: Bermudez
MVPs: Kurtisha Hoyce (Bermudez), Haajar Noreiga (Defence Force), Ayanna Peters (Fire), Giselle Hobson (Jabloteh), Donessa Wickham (Police), Shaquanda Greene (UTT), Shernese Seemungal (UWI).
Best shooting average (Individual)
1 Indra Anderson (Bermudez) — 78.76 per cent
2 Aquila Blugh (Fire) — 70.68
3 Kernesha Greenidge — 67.18
Alternative Division
League Trophy: 1 TSTT, 2 Prisons, 3 Fire
Divisional Knockout: 1 Prisons, 2 Fire
Fast 5: 1 TSTT, 2 Prisons
Opening day knockout: 1 TSTT, 2 Fire
Best centre-court: Seana Marie Solomon (Fire)
Best defender: Allison Young (Prisons)
Best Shooting Average Team: TSTT
Best Shooting Average (Individual)
1 Chanteal Perry (TSTT) — 78.99 per cent
2 Afiya Vincent — 66.91
3 Carla Victor — 66.79
MVPs: Juliana Julian (Fire), Gabriella Bridgewater (Police), Allison Young (Prisons), Chantael Perry (TSTT), Shurnell DeVerteuil (USC), Jenny Edwards (UWI).
Other awards
Most Improved: Prisons
Most Disciplined: Jabloteh
Courts Open Knockout: 1 UTT, 2 Fire
All Star Teams — Senior
Kalifa Mc Collin, Joelisa Cooper, Afeisha Noel, Patrice Goring, Candice Guerero, Rhonda John-Davis, Leslie Ann Bacquain, Jellene Richardson, Amanda Cameron, Onella Jack, Daystar Swift, Kielle Connelly.
Junior
Indra Anderson, Aquila Blugh, Chanteal Perry, Kernesha Greenidge, Ayanna Peters, Donessa Wickham, Kurtisha Hoyce, Shernese Seemungal, Shaquanda Greene, Mawiyah Strong, Giselle Hobson, Allison Young