Netball Jamaica Elite League

Netball Jamaica Elite League

Sport	Netball
Founded	2013
First season	2014
Administrator	Netball Jamaica
No. of teams	5 (2025)
Country	Jamaica
Venue	National Stadium
Most recent champion	Kingston Hummingbirds
Most titles	Kingston Hummingbirds Manchester Spurs (3 titles each)
Broadcaster	SportsMax TV/YouTube [1]
Sponsor	Red Stripe
Level on pyramid	1

The Netball Jamaica Elite League is the top level netball league featuring teams from Jamaica. It was formed in 2013 and is organised by Netball Jamaica. The league features teams representing parishes of Jamaica. Between 2013 and 2019, due to sponsorship and naming rights arrangements, the league was known as the Berger Elite League. In 2014, Kingston Hummingbirds were the inaugural winners. Kingston Hummingbirds and Manchester Spurs are the league's most successful teams.

History

Berger Elite League

The Berger Elite League was formed in 2013. It featured with six teams – Clarendon Gaters, Kingston Hummingbirds, Manchester Spurs, St Ann Orchids, St Catherine Racers and St James Sharpes. ^{[2] [3] [4]} With a team coached by Sylvester Campbell and captained by Elaine Davis, Kingston Hummingbirds won the inaugural title after defeating St Catherine Racers 2–1 in a best of three series. Hummingbirds' Stacian Facey was named series MVP. ^{[5] [6]} With a team coached by Dalton Hinds and captained by Nicole Aiken-Pinnock, Clarendon Gaters won the 2015 title after defeating St. James Sharpes. They were confirmed as champions after establishing a 2–0 lead in a best of three series. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

As part of their preparation for the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup, the 2016–17 season saw two teams featuring Jamaica Under-21 players temporarily join the league. They played as the Under-21 Shiners and the Under-21 Suns. The Under-21 Suns secured wins against both Kingston Hummingbirds and Clarendon Gaters, the champions from the two pervious seasons, and qualified for the semi-finals. However, as a development team, they were deemed ineligible to participate in the playoffs. ^{[10] [11] [12] [13] [14]} With a team coached by Janet Guy and captained by Simone Forbes, St Ann Orchids eventually won the 2016–17 title after defeating Kingston Hummingbirds in the best-of-three finals. Orchids recorded a 49–37 win over Hummingbirds in the deciding match to win the series 2–1. ^{[15] [16]}

In 2017–18, with a team coached by Marvette Anderson, Kingston Hummingbirds won their second title after defeating Connie Francis' Manchester Spurs in the best-of-three finals. ^{[17] [18]} The 2018–19 season saw Connie Francis and Manchester Spurs, return to the final. This time, they won their first title, getting the better of Kingston Hummingbirds in the best-of-three series. Hummingbirds won the opening match before Spurs levelled the series. Spurs clinched the title with a 71–65 extra-time win in match three. ^{[19] [20]}

Relaunch

In May 2020, Netball Jamaica confirmed that the 2020 Elite League had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[21] However, due to a lack of sponsorship, the league did return until 2023. The relaunched league featured four teams – Kingston Hummingbirds, Manchester Spurs, St Ann Orchids and St Catherine Racers. ^{[22] [23] [24] [25]} The 2023 season saw Manchester Spurs win their second title. With a team coached by Rasheed Josephs and captained by Shanice Beckford, Spurs emerged as champions after overcoming St Ann Orchids 2–0 in a best-of-three series. Beckford was also named the Finals MVP. ^{[26] [27] [28]} In 2024, Manchester Spurs won their third title. With a team captained by Shannika Johnson, they won their third successive title after a 45–38 over St Catherine Racers in a one off final. ^{[29] [30]} In 2025, Kingston Hummingbirds also won their third title after defeating Manchester Spurs 52–50 in the final. ^{[31] [32]}

Format

• At the start of the season, a number of players are entered in a pool. Players are allocated to each team by a draft. In 2017, all 75 players were entered in the pool for the first time. ^{[2] [33] [34] [35]}
• Netball Jamaica Elite League matches are hosted at the Leila Robinson Netball Courts and the National Indoor Sports Centre, both located within the National Stadium complex. Matches for the 2025 season were primarily held on Fridays and Sundays at these venues. The National Indoor Sports Centre is often used for indoor matches, while the Leila Robinson Netball Courts are used for outdoor games. The 2025 season took place between 27 June and 27 July. It featured five teams, 15 matches and 56 players. ^{[36] [37]}

Teams

2025 teams

Team	Parish	Colours
Kingston Hummingbirds	Kingston Parish
Manchester Spurs	Manchester Parish
St Anne Orchids	Saint Ann Parish
St Catherine Racers	Saint Catherine Parish
JPS Shiners 1	Saint Andrew Parish

Former teams

Team	Parish	Colours
Clarendon Gaters 2	Clarendon Parish
St James Sharpes 2	Saint James Parish
Under-21 Suns 3

Notes

• ^1 Shiners are the Jamaica Under-21 squad. As part of their preparation for the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup, they played the 2016–17 season as Under-21 Shiners. As part of their preparation for the 2025 Netball World Youth Cup, they played the 2024 season as St Andrew Shiners and the 2025 season as JPS Shiners. They were sponsored by the Jamaica Public Service. ^{[10] [38] [39] [40] [41]}
• ^2 Clarendon Gaters and St James Sharpes were both founder members of the of league. They continued to play until 2019. However, they subsequently folded and did not return for the 2023 relaunch. ^[4]
• ^3 Like the Shiners, the Under-21 Suns featured Jamaica Under-21 players. As part of their preparation for the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup, they played the 2016–17 season. The Suns secured wins against both Kingston Hummingbirds and Clarendon Gaters, the champions from the two pervious seasons, and qualified for the semi-finals. However, as a development team, they were deemed ineligible to participate in the playoffs. ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}

Winners

Between 2014 and 2023, the league used a best-of-three series format for its final.

Best of three series

Season	Winners	Runners Up	Finals MVP	Winning Captain	Winning Coach
2014 [5] [6]	Kingston Hummingbirds	St. Catherine Racers	Stacian Facey	Elaine Davis	Sylvester Campbell
2015 [7] [8] [9]	Clarendon Gaters	St. James Sharpes	Kadie-Ann Dehaney	Nicole Aiken-Pinnock	Dalton Hinds
2016–17 [15] [16]	St. Ann Orchids	Kingston Hummingbirds		Simone Forbes	Janet Guy
2017–18 [17] [18]	Kingston Hummingbirds	Manchester Spurs			Marvette Anderson
2018–19 [19] [20]	Manchester Spurs	Kingston Hummingbirds		Tracey Robinson [42]	Connie Francis
2023 [26] [27] [28]	Manchester Spurs	St Ann Orchids	Shanice Beckford	Shanice Beckford	Rasheed Josephs

Single match final

Season	Winners	Score	Runners Up	Final MVP	Winning Captain	Winning Coach
2024 [29] [30]	Manchester Spurs	45–38	St Catherine Racers		Shannika Johnson
2025 [31] [32]	Kingston Hummingbirds	52–50	Manchester Spurs	Tracy-Ann Francis
2026

Notable players

Internationals

  Jamaica

Nicole Aiken-Pinnock Shanice Beckford Nadine Bryan Althea Byfield Elaine Davis Kadie-Ann Dehaney Nicole Dixon

Kasey Evering Stacian Facey Simone Forbes Sasher-Gaye Henry Malysha Kelly Shimona Nelson

Rebekah Robinson Shamera Sterling Adean Thomas Paula Thompson Khadijah Williams Vangelee Williams

Source: ^{[2] [3] [34] [35] [41] [43]}

Title sponsors

Sponsors	Seasons
Berger Paints [2] [34] [43] [44]	2014–2019
Seprod Group [25] [26] [27]	2023
Red Stripe [36] [38] [45] [46]	2024–

References

1. "Netball Jamaica Elite League 2024 – Kingston Humming Birds vs St. Ann Orchids – SportsMax TV". www.youtube.com. 22 June 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
2. "Berger Elite League off the ground". www.jamaicaobserver.com. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
3. "Players selected for new semi-pro netball league". radiojamaicanewsonline.com. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
4. ""Don't call it duppy"". jamaicagleaner.com. 19 June 2025. Archived from the original on 20 June 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
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6. "Humming Birds win Elite League". jamaica-gleaner.com. 27 May 2014. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
7. "Gators ambush Sharpes to capture Berger Elite League title". www.jamaicaobserver.com. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
8. "Clarendon Gaters win Berger Elite Netball League title". iriefm.net. 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
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25. "Seprod Elite League Netball Tips Off". www.seprod.com. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
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29. "Johnson credits mix of youth, experience for Elite League title defence". jamaicagleaner.com. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
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32. "Elite League final MVP, mom takes aim at new challenge". jamaicagleaner.com. 29 July 2025. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
33. "March 13 start Netball Jamaicas Berger Paints Elite League". jamaicagleaner.com. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
34. "Berger Elite League draws new teams". www.jamaicaobserver.com. 11 November 2017. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
35. "Restructured Berger Elite League starts today". jamaica-star.com. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
36. "Red Stripe Flavours renews title sponsorship of Netball Jamaica Elite League". our.today. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
37. "2025 Red Stripe Flavors Netball Jamaica Elite League Schedule". www.instagram.com. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
38. "Red Stripe Flavours announced as title sponsors for Netball Elite League". our.today. 1 June 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
39. "12-member under 21 Sunshine Girls team named for upcoming Americas Netball World Youth qualifiers". iriefm.net. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
40. "Ministry of Sport helps young Sunshine Girls to Youth World Cup". jamaicagleaner.com. 24 June 2025. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
41. "Elite Netball Action Returns: Red Stripe Flavours Elite Netball League begins Friday at Leila Robinson Courts". iriefm.net. 25 June 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
42. "Hummingbirds, Spurs shooting for BEL title again". www.jamaicaobserver.com. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
43. "Third Berger Elite Netball League launched". jamaicagleaner.com. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
44. "Berger eyes BEL improvements". jamaicagleaner.com. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
45. "Red Stripe Flavours Netball Elite League kicks off with high-energy opening matches". our.today. 3 July 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
46. "Red Stripe Flavours Elite League set for explosive return on June 27". www.caribbeannationalweekly.com. 14 June 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2026.