Barbados bids to host 2026 Americas Netball World Cup Qualifier

Barbados has submitted a bid to host the Americas Netball World Cup Qualifier in October 2026, as Sports Minister Charles Griffith confirmed that two venues will be ready in time for the regional showdown.

Speaking to Barbados TODAY, the minister revealed that the island is hoping to secure the hosting rights, with support from the Barbados Netball Association (BNA).

“The Barbados Netball Association is in discussion with staging the world qualifier here next year,” Griffith said.

“Plans are in train to have two facilities available to them. One, the old netball stadium should be completed by then, and we are in the process of looking at the end of the year to replace the floor at the gymnasium.”

Speaking on the effort, President of the BNA, Dr Carmeta Douglin, shared that the regional qualifier will determine two of the three Americas teams that will advance to the 2027 Netball World Cup.

Jamaica has already qualified, and the remaining spots will be contested by countries in the region, including Barbados.

“We have already submitted an expression of interest and we are going to be bidding to see if we can hold that Netball World Cup qualifier in October 2026,” Douglin said.

“It is actually to Barbados’ advantage if we can get a home crowd and ensure that we qualify for the World Cup, which takes place in 2027.”

She noted that hosting the event would also allow the matches to be played indoors, helping to avoid the rain disruptions seen at last year’s qualifiers in Grenada.

“For Barbados to host, we would provide an indoor facility… and we would have the home crowd advantage to cheer on the players. We expect that we would have a number of young players coming out of the under-21 to join the seniors, and that would be development straight off [the bat],” she said.

Douglin added that the qualifiers could provide another tourism boost for the island: “We will actually be having netball tourism… lots of persons coming to Barbados, similar to CARIFESTA, because persons like to watch netball from the region and each of the countries would be bringing their supporters.”

Asked about the selection process, she said the BNA is preparing for an upcoming meeting with tournament organisers, but it is unclear whether a final decision will be made at that stage.

“[The meeting] is to hear what we’re bringing to the table and why we should be selected, and then they would get back to us and say which country has actually won the bid,” she said, noting that this is the second time the opportunity has been opened to the region.

Douglin said that the British Virgin Islands (BVI) initially won the bid last year after being the only applicant, but later pulled out.

“They could not fulfil that, so they sent it out again. I believe two countries have bid for that, so it will be a toss-up between the two countries.”

shannamoore@barbadostoday.bb