PROUD TO BE VINCY – Feature on netballer Peggy Ince-Hull

The name Peggy Ince-Hull is synonymous with netball in St.Vincent and the Grenadines, in fact, one should not mention the sport without talking about the exploits of Ince-Hull.

Ince-Hull, who was known in the early days as the little Ju-C girl, first tried her hand at netball at the tender age of eight. Her natural ability to catch the ball made her a perfect candidate for the sport.

By the time Ince-Hull was nine, she had made her Wesley Hall (Methodist School) school team and also played for the Dodgers Netball Club which was headed by Ishbell Horne King and Grace ‘Snatch” Daisley.

Ince-Hull created history. The now mother of three and grandmother of two captained the first ever West Indies Netball Team during the First World Netball Tournament held in Eastbourn, Sussex, England.

Although Ince-Hull describes this exploit as one filled with mixed emotions she put all her effort into the feat with her team beating the likes of Scotland, Ireland and Sri Lanka, “I felt joy but at the same time I knew I had a responsibility and people were watching,” said Ince-Hull.

However, before Ince-Hull was able to head the West Indies Team, she made the national team at age 13 while still a primary school student. She was part of this team which took her to Trinidad in 1953. On entering the Girls’ High School in 1954, Ince-Hull took to the helm of the school side while still maintaining her links with the national squad.

Ince-Hull recalls that in those days there was not much to do in terms of recreation, “there used to be netball at the youth centre where Cable & Wireless is located now so I used to go there; I liked the game”. Ince-Hull has played in almost every position on the court.

On leaving school in 1958, Ince-Hull became a teacher but did not give up netball. She joined the Maples Netball Club with which she still has dealings today, giving her over 43-years membership at the club where she served as secretary, treasurer and manager.

Once described by journalist and sports commentator Leslie Seon as the fastest centre court player he had ever seen, Ince-Hull comments, “we have very good players these days but they are not as dedicated as before”.

Ince-Hull, over the years, also achieved academically. She pursued studies in Applied Arts and Pedagogy at the Manitoba Institution of Technology in Winnipeg (now Red River Community College) where she qualified as an Executive Secretary.

While at school in Canada, she represented her college in basketball, field hockey and badminton, rising to the highest rank as the ladies doubles badminton champ. Also, in 1981, Hull attended the Royal Institute of Public Administration in London where she studied personnel management.

Ince-Hull is a qualified advance umpire and has put her skills to the test as an umpire at local and regional tournaments.

Like the Ju-C slogan “Watch it Grow”, the netball world watched Ince-Hull grow into one of the best netballers St.Vincent and the Caribbean has ever seen. She is still actively involved in netball today while working at the St.Vincent Building and Loan Association.