Back  |  Home 

Reggae Girlz in training during the Olympic Solidarity Coaching Course at UTech

The National Senior Women’s Team, the Reggae Girlz, was always destined to achieve great things and set a precedent for other National or Caribbean Women’s Football teams to follow. In 2005 when the team entered the CFU (Caribbean Football Union) first round qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA Women’s World Cup the Girlz won their three First Round games by thrashing St. Kitts, the Bahamas and Antigua without conceding a goal. In the second round the victories came again, this time over Trinidad, Suriname and Haiti, again without conceding a goal. The road to the CONCACAF qualifiers was brilliant, 6 matches, 6 victories, 33 goals scored and 0 conceded.

The team is comprised of women who represented clubs in the Sherwin Williams Women’s League. The average age of the senior team is 21 years. Additionally, the ladies have represented Jamaica at the U-20 level and have now advanced to the senior level. The team enjoys a retention rate of over 70%. The Girlz are a good blend of talent, character, discipline and academic excellence. A high standard of academic performance is quite common throughout the team.

In 2006 six (6) members of the Senior Women’s Team received Scholarships to attend Tertiary Level institutions in the United States; Correne Walker, Kylela Brownhill and Natalya Manyan received offers from Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma. Correne Walker has done exceptionally well and has been placed in the University’s Honour Roll. Omolyn Davis and Yolanda Hamilton received offers from Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky and Stacy-Ann Johnson (former team captain) received a scholarship from the Florida International University).

The National U-20 Women’s team created history in January 2006 in Jamaican and Caribbean Football after demolishing Suriname 9 – 0 and defeating El Salvador 3 – 1 thus securing their place in the Semifinal round of the CONCACAF U-20 Tournament.

The Jamaican U-20 Reggae Girlz was the first National or Caribbean Women’s Football team to advance to this stage of a World Cup Qualifier. They matched up against CONCACAF and FIFA powerhouses Canada, Mexico and the USA in the semifinal round. The Girlz lost to Tournament eventual winners Canada and then to Mexico in the third place playoff.

More international success came in September 2006 when the Senior Reggae Girlz qualified to the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup along with Canada, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago and the host USA.

Jamaica finished in fourth place just behind Mexico and hence missed the chance to qualify to the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Jamaica was crowned the Caribbean Champion from the Tournament and therefore earned qualification to the 2007 Pan American Games. This qualification the Pan Am Games is historic in that this is the first time that a Jamaican Women’s Football team will participate in the competition.

The Women’s programme has seen growth at all levels; of note is the recent expansion of the National Women’s Programme to include an Under-17 unit. The Senior Women’s Team and the U-20 Women’s team continue to enjoy regional success, but are yet to break into the mainstream and be a dominant force in the CONCACAF. The quality of play in the domestic leagues has increased and there has been an increase in the number of secondary school teams entering the school girl competition.

The U-20 women are currently in preparation for the Caribbean Football Union Qualifiers to the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup. Jamaica will face Haiti and hosts Bahamas on July 27 and July 29 respectively. In November 2007 the qualifying tournament for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup will begin and Jamaica is expected to compete as strongly as their senior counterparts have done in other regional tournaments.