Members of Jamaica’s depleted Sunshine Girls squad are expected to arrive home this evening following a humbling end to the 2025 Horizon Netball Series against England Roses at the Copper Box Arena in London.
The Sunshine Girls were swept aside 2-0 after suffering back-to-back heavy defeats, culminating in an 81-30 loss in Sunday’s second match. That followed Saturday’s 80-37 defeat, as the Roses capitalized on a Jamaican side affected by injuries and the absence of several key players.
As was the case in the opening encounter, England raced into a commanding position early, opening up a 23-point lead by half-time before completely pulling away in the second half. The Roses poured on 43 more goals after the break, underlining their dominance and exacting revenge for last year’s series defeat.
The result marked a sharp contrast to the inaugural Horizon Series in 2024, when Jamaica claimed a 2-1 series victory that allowed the Jamaicans to leapfrog England into third place in the world rankings.
The 2025 edition of the series had originally been scheduled as a four-match contest, with two games set for Kingston in early December and two in England. However, the Jamaica leg was cancelled following the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, forcing the series to be reduced to the two fixtures in London.
England Netball, meanwhile, confirmed its continued support for Jamaica’s recovery efforts, announcing that £1 from every Horizon Series ticket sold would be donated to Netball Jamaica’s chosen charity, World Central Kitchen. Fans were also encouraged to contribute to the British Red Cross’ Disaster Fund.
