Young Men’s Social Club Lady Bluebirds skipper Karlandra Smith has attributed a number of key factors to her team’s remarkable season.Lady Bluebirds completed a clean sweep of top honours (Sylvia Easterly Trophy, Winter League and Knockout Cup) during the past netball season without losing a single match in all competitions.Smith said dedication, skill and self-development all played a huge part in her team’s success.“I think we as a team understand that dedication, skill and self-development plays an important part and also sportsmanship,” she said. “We recognise that being at the court is a nice place to be; it’s women doing positive things so we just try and show our fellow team-mates that this is something we enjoy.”Smith said having the bulk of the team’s roster available for the season was also helpful.“This was the first year that everyone was able to participate,” she said. “There were maybe two or three who are away in school that we wished could’ve have joined the celebration with us. But most of us we are able to participate.”Smith, who is an account executive at Digicel, praised team shooters Danielle Raynor and Ebonie Burgess for their valuable contributions.“Netball is definitely a team sport but regardless of how great you are your shooters are what makes the team,” said goalkeeper Smith. “I can be the best defender but at the end of the day it’s the points that count, so I give a lot of credit to my shooters Danielle Ebonie.”Of the three titles Lady Bluebirds won this past season, Smith cherishes the league championship the most.“The most special for me was the league because it has been ten-years that we’ve wanted to win this cup,” she said. “The league is the biggest jewel because you have these other tournaments which are fun tournaments. Even though we take the fun tournaments seriously they are not as serious as the league.”After finishing as bridesmaids to Data Tech Netts during the previous campaign, Smith said winning the league this season was her team’s top priority this season.“We are getting older and so we said ‘we have to take this (league) and win it’,” she said. “We have been together as a team for so long that we are more than a team, we are family and almost like sisters.”To ensure the club’s continued netball success, Young Men’s Social Club have placed heavy emphasis on youth development in recent years which is also beginning to bear fruit.“This is the first year we had a team in every division (Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16), so youth development is major at Young Men’s Social Club,” Smith said. “These girls coming up are naturally talented so I think Social Club has a bright future and there’s definitely more to come.”Smith, 27, said local netball in general is on the rise.“Netball is getting bigger and we have a new president (Tracey Sharrieff) who is doing a lot of fundraising and getting the word out that the sport still exists,” she added. “For a long time people didn’t know we were still playing, and I have been playing since I was 14.”