TINY ISLAND, POWER PUNCH
Sports experts hail Reggae Girlz’s historic WCup run as crowning glory for Jamaica’s Independence celebrations
Published:Sunday | August 6, 2023 | 12:09 AMErica Virtue - Senior Gleaner Writer
“I don’t believe that anyone can beat a Jamaican determined to succeed in any sports.” That’s the declaration from Crenston Boxhill, former president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
And over the course of the nation’s 61 years of Independence, this little but tallawah country has been a dominant force on the world stage thanks to the dogged determination of our talented sportsmen and women.
Many have defied the odds over the decades, as the Reggae Girlz – the national women’s football team – are now showing in a stunning display of Great Wall of China defence, dismissing more highly fancied rivals to emerge from the group stage as they advance in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup now under way in Australia and New Zealand.
The Girlz have now advanced to the next phase of the tournament for the first time in the country’s history.
“Jamaica have punched well above their weight in the competitions, and just like the Reggae Boyz, when they qualified for France in 1998, they should not have been there. But, we don’t take no for an answer. We push and push and here they are, where no one expected them to be,” Boxhill told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.
The Reggae Girlz’s knockout qualification ricocheted around the world, sending fans dreaming and wanting more.
They seem determined to play in the finals despite the many obstacles they faced getting to this stage.
When the Reggae Girlz were eliminated at the first round stage in their Women’s World Cup debut in 2019 with 12 goals against and a single one for, they found themselves in a group which included Italy, Australia and Brazil.
No one expected them to win a game then, and they didn’t. Italy beat them 5-0; Brazil 3-0 and Australia 4-1. When they were drawn with Brazil and France for the 2023 competition, the odds were essentially the same.
But what did they do?
They stunned France in the opener with a nil-all draw for their first point; beat Panama 1-0 to secure their first win, and set sights on Brazil – the mighty Samba queens from the Amazon – who needed a win to remain in the competition.
Jamaica needed a draw to advance. They eliminated Brazil with a 0-0 tie and became a global sensation, with headlines of their achievement hitting the world, rivalling those which highlighted and documented the exploits of another great Jamaican – that global athletic icon, the Honourable Dr Usain Bolt.
BEYOND AWESOME
“What the Reggae Girlz have achieved is beyond awesome, and every little girl in some corner of Jamaica who has been told she can play football will want to become a national representative,” said Boxhill.
Even coach Vin Blaine – who parted ways with the team last May after 20 senior players signed a letter to JFF President Michael Ricketts demanding his resignation – expressed pride and joy at the progress made by the women’s team.
“I am very happy for the Reggae Girlz. This is just awesome. It’s a great result and I won’t be surprised if this takes them to the semifinals. And if they get there, I am not betting against them,” said Blaine from his overseas base on Friday.
Former chairman of the Premier League Clubs Association (PLCA), Don Anderson, said the draw with France was the biggest win for the Girlz.
“First of all, I offer my congratulations to the women footballers for what has been an excellent performance up to date. Having been drawn in the group with France and Brazil, I don’t think too many Jamaicans were looking beyond the first round. But the match against France gave them the self-belief they could do it. So I was pretty confident going into the Brazil match that the girls could do it,” Anderson told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday.
“That result (vs France) reminded me of the 100-metre men’s final at the Beijing Olympics when Usain Bolt went out, set a new world record in destroying a world-class field of athletes in a superb sprinting display. The effect it had on the team was phenomenal. You could see that rising tide of determination on all the athletes,” he recalled of the 2008 Olympics.
“Everybody wanted to do something special and set records doing it. They were totally inspired. Remember, too, that that was the first race that was decided in athletics. And this is what this first match result had on the Reggae Girlz team, and I believe after that, they were determined to do what was required to advance,” Anderson said.
The women’s performance, given their antecedents, have forced the world to look closely at them once again, with a searchlight with which Jamaica is not unfamiliar, as the country has achieved great feats in sports, none of which was more daring than the Jamaican bobsledders entry in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Hailing from an island where it has never snowed, and with no experience in the sports, they begged and borrowed some basic equipment in order to compete. The novelty inspired the movie Cool Runnings and led to a female bobsleigh team debut in 2018.
Now there is always that expectation that a Jamaican is going to emerge as a top competitor in a sport formerly revered for the G8 countries, according to Anderson.
Reggae Boyz captain, Andre Blake, goalkeeper for major league club Philadelphia Union, lifts his hat to the Girlz.
“We definitely have to step up to the plate and show up, for the women have showed up and they are doing an amazing job. We have to do the same, no excuse. It just goes to show that it does not matter what is happening on the outside. Once you get a group of people who come together and believe in what they are doing, it can be done,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.
“Listen, Jamaica is a special country, we have special talent and when that talent comes together and work as a group, it does not matter who thinks they are not good enough to be there. Nothing beats belief in one’s self and one’s abilities,” the senior men’s team captain stressed.
RAGS-TO-RICHES STORY
It’s a true rags to riches story for the girls from Jamaica, the country which sits close to the top of the world’s table for producing world-class athletes for its size and population. Since the 1970s, Jamaica has toyed with women’s football, organising at the club level. Without a dedicated fan base, committed sponsorship and a focused programme by the JFF, the women’s programme has faced scrutiny about its organisation and sustainable structure.
Female teams were linked to clubs which have a male programme, though not exclusively. Lack of sponsorship for the premier league women’s programme after painting giant Sherwin Williams exited left the programme in limbo. The JFF was forced to put a temporary halt on the national women’s league after various controversies arose following Sherwin Williams’ departure.
This opened the door for Cedella Marley, daughter of reggae icon Bob Marley, to bring star power to a national programme and a women’s team.
But controversy is never too far from the team, with allegations of underfunding, lack of funding and crowdfunding to secure funds.
The narrative has been widely sold and repeated that no support has come from the JFF and Government for the current World Cup campaign. This forced Ricketts to ask players to desist from making false allegations, which he said has taken some shine off their historic achievement.
According to him, funding was provided by FIFA, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), the Government of Jamaica, Adidas, Bob Marley Foundation, corporate Jamaica sponsors and the Reggae Girlz Foundation.
Sports Minister Olivia Grange has also intervened in the issue.
BETTER STRUCTURE NEEDED
Unlike the 1970s when all players were Jamaica based, today, the Reggae Girlz team is comprised largely of several American and English-born players with Jamaican heritage.
There are fears that the absence of a structured programme will derail future exploits, forcing Jamaica to always rely on foreign-based players, at the expense of local players. While the expertise of the overseas-based players are appreciated and required, Jamaican-born players will not get the opportunity for skills training, tactical and academic developments if the trend continues, industry personnel have suggested.
When the schoolgirl programme was established in primary and secondary institutions, it provided a feeder to various competitions.
Harbour View is the club of Jamaica’s top striker and captain Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, Jody Brown and Deneisha Blackwood, among others. Shaw is a product of the under 15, 17 and 20 age group levels. Barbican women are also attached to that club, but clubs such as Los Perfectos, Waterhouse, Rangers and St Ann are barely functional, the state of training and funding unknown. Others have wilted under the weight of a dearth of funding.
Without a wider pool, development will stifle, is one view posited.
Many schools, too, have also abandoned participation, with the COVID-19 pandemic striking the final blow.
WHAT NEXT?
Many are now wondering what’s next after the World Cup euphoria simmers.
That rests with Elaine Walker-Brown who has responsibility for the women’s programme at JFF. The team’s advancement in the World Cup may be the public relations needed to sell the future.
Blaine would like to see a match organised with one of the top teams versus Jamaica in the near future.
“I think that would be a great start, and we can begin to look to the future after. We have to begin planning for the next World Cup. It’s not too far away and wherever Jamaica finishes in this competition, they will be determined to surpass it if that will take them to the finals,” he said.
For Anderson: “As far as what the women’s team has done to date, notice I said to date, it will have the same awe-inspiring impact on so many young girls much like Bolt and the Jamaican team did in Beijing – it will definitely inspire them to dare also to dream. We are not going to have money over the next few years to fund a solid women’s programme. We have to face that because there are so many competing demands on the dollars of the Government and private sector.”
He added, “The football federation should take careful note of where these girls have reached despite the challenges these girls have had and build a programme, because the future is here.”
Captain Blake said: “A group of persons working hard can achieve anything. It paves the way for a younger generation of girls and even the Reggae Boyz to look at it and realise that nothing is impossible. I have told the boys that we have the talent and that makes nothing impossible for us to qualify and leave the group stage. The girls are doing it and doing it big.”
Perhaps the best inspiration for the Reggae Girlz as they head into Tuesday’s knockout against Colombia is a tweet from Brazil Football: “Congrats to Jamaica, a nation with a small population and a big heart. Good luck with the rest of the tournament,” signed with a thumbs-up emoji.