By the Caribbean Journal staff

While Kirani James has been making quite the name for Grenada’s sporting culture in Europe, he might have some competition.

Prime Minister Tillman Thomas has congratulated Grenadian netballer Lottysha Cato on her accomplishments in the sport, now readying for a second round in the English Professional League.

Cato, who recently paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, is Grenada’s first professional netball player. She is contracted to the Celtic Dragons, which competes in the English Professional League.

The six-foot-six-inch tall Cato led Grenada to back-to-back wins in the OECS Under-23 tournament in 2008 and 2009, and has also been a top performer at the senior level.

Thomas wished her good health and strength, along with another bumper season when she goes off to England to play for Celtic Dragons for a second time next year.

The government and people of Grenada are thrilled at the “excellent performances’’ of athletes like Cato, Kirani James and others,’’ said Prime Minister Thomas, who is also MP for St Patrick East.

He added that structures are being put in place to reward the nation’s star athletes.

Cato said she is heartened to have interacted with Thomas, noting that both hail from the same parish.

She assured him that she was doing all in her powers to excel by training diligently and trying to remain in top shape for her next outing in England.

Cato, who is popularly known as Timmy, is a former member of local champion team, Arley Gill Fun City.

She told the Prime Minister that since her return from professional netball work in the UK last year, she has been involved in coaching in an attempt to help develop the sport in Grenada.

A goal-shoot, Cato helped propel the Celtic Dragons to fifth position in the English Professional League. It’s the team’s best position to date in the annual competition.

Cato was among the leading players with a shooting average of 88 percent.