RJRGLEANER Honour Awards 2019 | Blazing a trail in women’s football

Recipient: Khadija Shaw

Category: Special Award: Sport

As women’s football in Jamaica continues its growth and development, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw continues to make a determined path in uncharted territory. Her accomplishments, both individually and collectively, at just 22 years of age is blazing a trail that she hopes will inspire a new generation of players to unlock their potential for the women’s game in Jamaica.

The St Jago High alumnus rose through the national youth ranks, but her football path was paved by tragedy, losing three of her older brothers to violence and another to a car accident.

In an interview with online publication The Undefeated in 2018, Shaw opened up about how football helped to navigate her through the volatile hometown of Spanish Town, St Catherine.

“One of my brothers that died was the one who taught me to play soccer,” Shaw said.

“In my community, soccer was that thing where, you know, you just play. I would always have to sit down and watch my brother play. I was really desperate to know what was so unique about this sport. So I started playing on the street, right in front of my house. I heard about David Beckham and Ronaldinho, and I was like, ‘OK, I can be the next Ronaldinho and David Beckham’. You know?”

Shaw did not receive offers for division one colleges overseas due to her academic performance, but excelled at junior college for two years before being recruited by division one school, the University of Tennessee in the United States. She would go on to score 27 goals in 40 appearances in her two years with the team and had a banner year in 2018 for both college and country.

She led Tennessee to their best season in the school history, advancing to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. She would score three goals in the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship en route to helping the nation become the first Caribbean country to qualify for the Women’s World Cup.

Last summer, Shaw and her team stepped out on the World Cup stage in France, 21 years after the Reggae Boyz made their breakthrough appearance.

After her World Cup journey ended, the focus switched to impressing for her new club, Bordeaux, where she signed a two-year deal. It didn’t take long for Shaw to unleash her goalscoring ability on the French Women’s first division. She made an instant impact, scoring a brace on her league debut on August 24 against Fluery 91 FC, a 4-1 rout which gave the fans a taste of what was to come.

She has scored a total of nine goals so far in her debut season, including a brilliant spell in November where she netted four times in three games, landing herself in a three-way tie for second place on the goalscoring charts along with her teammate Viviane Asseyi and Paris Saint Germain’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto.

At one point, Shaw was two goals shy of overtaking Olympic Lyon’s Ada Hegerberg, the 2018 FIFA Women’s Ballon D’or winner. She has also contributed with three assists, which has taken her club to third place in the league.

But Shaw would go on to achieve a greater feat for her country later down in the year. At the Concacaf Caribbean Olympic Qualifying tournament held in late September, Shaw became Jamaica’s all-time leading goalscorer for both men and women with 40 goals, surpassing her countryman Luton Shelton, who had 35.

In a year that has seen her game continue to soar, her exploits have not gone unnoticed. In December, British newspaper, The Guardian named her among the top 100 best women’s footballers in the world for 2019. Ranked at 80, the newspaper heralded her as a player who is on the verge of stardom.

“This may be the first time 22-year-old Shaw has appeared in this list but it certainly won’t be the last. There was plenty of talk about Shaw being the exciting new talent going into the World Cup and, while Jamaica struggled in a tough group, Shaw’s talent was evident,” the newspaper said.

“She scored four goals in two games during Jamaica’s warm-up friendlies and since going professional in Division 1 Féminine with Bordeaux, Shaw has rarely looked back. Nine goals already this season leave her trailing only Ada Hegerberg in the scoring charts and it does appear the world is really at her feet at 22.”

Hue Menzies, who oversaw the Reggae Girlz historic World Cup campaign, in an interview on December 4, said that the accolade was well deserved and was proud that Shaw’s achievements were being recognised while cheekily saying that she should be number one.

“It’s very deserving. She broke all barriers in football, the leading scorer in the country, male or female. She is the second leading goalscorer in the French League. And on top of that she got her degree, plus the World Cup,” he said.

“It’s very gratifying to see that she’s been honoured as part of the top 100 female players in the world.”

INTERESTING FACTS

* Khadija Shaw was given the nickname ‘Bunny’ by her brother Kentardo because of her love for carrots.

* Kentardo, who passed away tragically, introduced her to the game at an early age.

* Shaw made her senior international debut in 2015 at age 18.

* She graduated from the University of Tennessee in 2019 with a degree in communication studies.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS

* Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw was named the 2018 Southern Eastern Conference (SEC) Offensive Player of the Year for the Tennessee University.

* She was named the 2018 Footballer of the Year by British Newspaper the Guardian.

* She ranked 80 in British Newspaper The Guardian’s 2019 list of top women’s footballer’s in the world.

* Shaw is Jamaica’s all time leading goal scorer for both men and women (40 goals).