Goalkeeper Sydney Bellamy (with ball) in action for college team
Jamaican to the bone
US-born goalie Sydney Bellamy yearns for chance to represent Reggae Girlz
While watching Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz football team with her parents three years ago, Sydney Bellamy told them of her desire to one day represent the country.
Born in Pembroke Pines, Florida, her parents are Jamaicans which would help Bellamy’s qualification prospects. But she wanted to take things a step further and gain Jamaican citizenship.
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After completing the required paperwork, the 18-year-old goalkeeper officially got that status on February 17 during the ‘Back To My Roots’ virtual ceremony, in which 290 Americans of Jamaican descent were granted Jamaican citizenship.
“I can remember as far back that I always wanted to become a Jamaican citizen, but when I watched the Reggae Girlz in 2019, I told my parents I want to play football for Jamaica and from that day I nagged my parents to get my Jamaica passport,” said Bellamy during an interview with the Jamaica Observer.
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Bellamy is a freshman at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the goalkeeping coach is Jamaican Sheneaka Wright. A product of the South Florida youth football programme, she started playing the game at three years old, then at middle and high school level.
Among her coaches in Pembroke Pines was Carl Brown, the former Boys’ Town and Jamaica defender who became technical director and head coach of the Reggae Boyz football team.
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Bellamy’s Jamaican lineage is accomplished. Her paternal grandmother is acclaimed classical musician Paulette Bellamy, while her maternal great-grandfather is Russell Graham, founder of Palace Amusement Company.
She first visited Jamaica at three months old and was here annually until the COVID-19 outbreak two years ago broke that ritual.
“Every time we visited Jamaica my parents took me to different parts of the island, so I can really appreciate the beauty of Jamaica. Not just the beaches, but for the culture, the food, and the people,” said Bellamy.
A number of players born in the United States have played for the Reggae Girlz in recent years. For Sydney Bellamy, having Jamaican citizenship transcends sports.
“I feel complete. When people ask me where I am from, I would say I am Jamaican, but was born in the United States. Now I can officially say that I am a Jamaican,” she said.
Sydney Bellamy (centre) With parents Dario Bellamy (left) and Jeanine Graham-Bellamy.
BELLAMY…whenpeople ask me whereI am from, I wouldsay I am Jamaican,but was born in theUnited States
