Chargers Volleyball Produce Three of Antigua and Barbuda’s Youngest Senior National Players
Faith Gibson. Philisha Burnette. Jaanai Jacobs.
Three young women. One club. One team. And now, all three have earned the honour of representing Antigua and Barbuda at the senior national level.
Chargers Volleyball is celebrating one of the most significant outcomes of its youth development programme to date, with Faith Gibson, 18, Philisha Burnette, 18, and Jaanai Jacobs, 16, selected among the 12 players who will represent Antigua and Barbuda at the ECVA Women’s Volleyball Championship in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, from August 12–16, 2026.
What makes the achievement particularly significant is not simply that Chargers has produced three national players.
All three are between 16 and 18 years old. All three have been developed by Chargers Volleyball. And all three compete together on the Eagles First Division female Club trained by Chargers Volleyball.
That is an extraordinary outcome for a youth development programme and an important moment for Chargers Volleyball.
Faith Gibson — Earning Her Place Again
At 18 years old, Faith Gibson continues to establish herself as one of the promising young athletes emerging from the Chargers programme.
The 5-foot-7 Outside Hitter/Power has played three seasons with the Eagles and was developed entirely through Chargers Volleyball.
This represents Faith’s second outing with the Senior National Indoor Team.
Returning to a national squad can sometimes be harder than making it the first time. Once selected, a player must continue improving while competing against others determined to take that position.
Faith fought extremely hard to maintain her place.
Her selection therefore represents more than talent. It speaks to consistency, competitiveness, resilience and the willingness to keep working when there are no guarantees.
Faith has demonstrated that earning an opportunity is only the beginning. Keeping it requires another level of commitment.
Philisha Burnette — Perseverance Rewarded
At 18, Philisha Burnette has also earned her second selection to the Antigua and Barbuda Female Senior National Team.
The 5-foot-4 Defensive Specialist/Outside Hitter has spent two seasons with the Eagles and has been developed through Chargers Volleyball.
Philisha’s journey has demanded tremendous perseverance.
She has worked through obstacles, challenges and perceptions about what she could accomplish, continuing to compete for her opportunity rather than allowing circumstances to determine her future.
Her selection is especially meaningful because volleyball can sometimes place enormous emphasis on physical dimensions. Philisha’s journey demonstrates that height alone does not determine a player’s value.
Reading the game, defending, controlling the ball, competing relentlessly and being prepared to do the difficult work for a team matter tremendously.
At 5-foot-4, Philisha’s second senior national selection sends an important message:
Never allow someone else’s perception of your limitations to become your own.
Jaanai Jacobs — 16 Years Old and Already a Senior National Player
Then there is 16-year-old Jaanai Jacobs.
Standing 6 feet 2 inches tall, the Eagles Middle has spent three seasons developing within Chargers Volleyball and has worked exceptionally hard to earn her first-ever national selection.
She now makes her debut on the biggest domestic representative stage available to her—the Antigua and Barbuda Female Senior National Team.
Even more remarkable, Jaanai is the youngest player selected to the senior women’s squad.
At an age when many athletes are still discovering their game, she will have the opportunity to train, compete and learn alongside some of the country’s most experienced female players.
Her selection is both a reward for what she has already accomplished and an indication of the tremendous potential ahead of her.
Three National Players. One Eagles Team. Ages 16, 18 and 18.
This is where the significance of the achievement becomes much bigger than three individual selections.
It is not unusual for established First Division clubs to contribute multiple players to a national team.
What deserves particular attention here is how young these three athletes are and where they have come from.
Chargers Volleyball’s Eagles First Division female team will now field three Senior National Team players aged just 16 to 18:
Jaanai Jacobs — 16
Faith Gibson — 18
Philisha Burnette — 18
Three of the youngest athletes emerging within Antigua and Barbuda’s senior women’s programme are playing together, training together and developing together within the same Chargers team.
That is a significant developmental outcome.
It means that when younger Chargers athletes attend training and watch the Eagles First Division team, national volleyball is no longer an abstract dream.
They are standing beside national players.
They are warming up with them.
They are practising against them.
They are watching how they prepare.
And, importantly, they can see young women only a few years older than themselves wearing Antigua and Barbuda’s colours.
That proximity matters.
The Chargers Development Model Is Producing Results
For Chargers Volleyball, this moment should be viewed as an important measure of whether the programme is accomplishing what it was created to do.
Winning club matches and championships matters.
But youth development must ultimately be measured by something bigger: Are players getting better? Are they advancing? Are opportunities opening for them? Are they becoming capable of competing beyond the club level?
The selection of Faith, Philisha and Jaanai provides a resounding answer.
Yes.
Chargers Volleyball has deliberately sought to create pathways that take young athletes from learning the fundamentals of volleyball through structured training, club competition and ultimately toward national, regional, collegiate and international opportunities.
Three teenagers from the Eagles First Division team simultaneously earning senior national selection represents tangible evidence that the pathway is working.
It also raises the standard inside the Chargers programme.
Every younger athlete now understands that making the national team is not something that happens somewhere else.
There is a pathway directly in front of them.
What This Means for the Future of Women’s Volleyball
There is another important dimension to this achievement.
Faith and Philisha are only 18. Jaanai is 16.
If they continue developing, remaining disciplined and receiving the right competitive opportunities, these young women potentially have many years of national volleyball ahead of them.
That makes their selection important not only for Chargers but potentially for the future of Antigua and Barbuda women’s volleyball.
Strong national programmes are not built when athletes suddenly appear at age 22 or 23.
They are built when talented young players are identified, developed, challenged and exposed to increasingly demanding competition while still teenagers.
This is why youth club development matters.
And this is why having three athletes between 16 and 18 from one First Division team breaking into the senior national programme deserves recognition.
Imagine Being a 10-Year-Old Girl at Chargers Today
Perhaps the greatest impact of this achievement cannot be measured on a scoresheet.
Imagine being a 10-, 12- or 14-year-old girl beginning volleyball at Chargers.
You walk into practice and see Faith.
You see Philisha.
You see Jaanai.
They aren’t distant international superstars whose journeys seem impossible to replicate.
They are Eagles.
They trained in the same programme.
They learned many of the same drills.
They faced setbacks.
They fought for positions.
They kept showing up.
And now they are representing Antigua and Barbuda.
For the next generation of Chargers girls, the pathway has become visible.
That may ultimately be the greatest legacy of this moment.
Congratulations, Faith, Philisha and Jaanai
Chargers Volleyball proudly congratulates Faith Gibson, Philisha Burnette and Jaanai Jacobs on their selection to the Antigua and Barbuda Female Senior National Team.
Faith and Philisha, earning your second senior national selections demonstrates that your first opportunities were not accidents. You have continued working and have earned the right to wear the national colours again.
Jaanai, earning your first senior national selection at just 16 years old is an exceptional achievement and the beginning of what we hope will be a long journey representing Antigua and Barbuda.
But this moment belongs to more than three players.
It belongs to their families who made sacrifices.
It belongs to their coaches who invested countless hours in their development.
It belongs to their teammates who competed alongside them and helped make them better.
And it belongs to every young Chargers athlete watching and dreaming.
Three national players.
One Eagles First Division club.
Ages 16, 18 and 18.
That is more than a statistic.
It is evidence that development works. It is evidence that opportunity matters. And it is evidence that Chargers Volleyball is building a pathway capable of producing the next generation of Antigua and Barbuda volleyball.
Congratulations, Faith, Philisha and Jaanai.
Go represent your country with pride. Your Chargers family is behind you.