Congratulations to the Young Reggae Girlz
LOSING is always a disappointment, and the Young Reggae Girlz are understandably dismayed, having lost to Canada by all of five goals in the semi-final of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship at the Montego Bay Sports Complex on Thursday night.
The result meant that Jamaica fell short yet again in its bid to qualify a women’s team to the FIFA World Cup.
Canada and Mexico — the latter having shocked the United States in the semi-finals — will now join host nation Costa Rica in representing the CONCACAF region at the FIFA World Cup next year.
Yet, disappointed though they are, Jamaica’s youngsters and their coaches should be congratulated for their performances during the tournament, which showed that women’s football is making solid progress here.
Their fourth-place finish was the best ever by a Jamaica age-group women’s team and equalled the achievement of the senior team a few years back.
It should be noted that prior to faltering against Canada, the Jamaicans defeated El Salvador 2-0, Haiti 3-0, and drew with Mexico 1-1. The Mexico result was a feat never before achieved.
The bald results apart, we are told that the Young Reggae Girlz played with skill and verve as well as great determination. That realisation no doubt helped to fuel the massive spectator support for the Reggae Girlz during the championship.
The truth is that Jamaica, and for that matter, every other team from the Caribbean Football Union (CFU), are punching well above their weight in every respect when facing women’s football powerhouses such as Canada, USA, and Mexico.
Yet there are the shining examples of several sporting disciplines in which Jamaica continues to punch successfully above its weight.
Success will not come immediately, but with perseverance we believe that true to their indomitable spirit, our women will sooner, rather than later, be carrying the flag at a FIFA World Cup.
We expect they will be helped along the way with progressive strengthening of the various women’s leagues including the schools’ competitions run by the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Associations.
We are aware that women’s football has been held back by an inadequacy of sponsorship. Ideally, what’s needed is an all-island club league on par with the men’s game. However, finding the money to support such a competition is a major challenge for the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and its affiliates.
We believe though that the show put on in Montego Bay by Jamaica and its CONCACAF neighbours will have been an eye-opener for those with the wherewithal to support women’s football.
All that said, we wish the Young Reggae Girlz all the best in their third place play-off against the United States later today.