Boost for Girlz - Revamped calendar to provide more opportunities for senior women’s team
Published:Wednesday | December 16, 2020 | 12:11 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Women’s Committee chairperson, Elaine Walker-Brown, says that the revamped women’s international window will give the senior national team adequate preparation for major tournaments.
Concacaf announced changes last Thursday to the women’s football calendar from 2021 to 2024, which included an increase in competitions for member associations for that period. The changes are a part of Concacaf W, the initiative to grow the women’s game in the region, and was approved by the Concacaf council.
According to a release last week Thursday, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers are now scheduled to start in November 2021 and the Women Nation’s League will make its debut in 2023.
MAKING PROGRESS
Walker-Brown, who is also president of the St Catherine Football Association, says that the changes represent progress in giving the Reggae Girlz more games to showcase their talent.
“One of the things that we can all recall is that years gone by, we lacked preparation going into major tournaments, so this is a step in the right direction,” Walker-Brown told The Gleaner. “Because more games [means] more experience [and] more development. So our girls will be more [ready] to take on the big stages.”
The senior team has been inactive since the Concacaf Olympic qualifying tournament in February because of the coronavirus pandemic. Plans for a camp and an international friendly this year were forced to be postponed until next year. With the qualifiers now slated to begin in 11 months, Walker-Brown says that they are hoping to resume footballing activities in the island, so that the local players can be in a position to contribute next year.
“We are looking at coaches within the parishes that (local players) can start training with individually and give the girls a programme for them to continue training,” Walker-Brown said.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup will be the first tournament to feature 32 teams. The Nations League will be used to determine the format for the 2024 Olympic qualifiers.
Meanwhile, former national player and current youth coach, Tashana Vincent, says that the local talent will benefit from the increase in games in the women’s schedule.
“I see the Reggae Girlz benefiting especially our local girls from this new format. We have been asking for more practice games and more official games during the Concacaf window to no avail,” Vincent said. “So, I think the fact that Concacaf has now mandated this is only going to serve our Reggae Girlz with positives.”
Despite the 10-month hiatus, Jamaica are ranked 50th in the world and fifth in the region, according to the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings, which were released in August.