Will Women's Football in Jamaica Expecting Brighter Day

Jamaican women's football is proud to have Cedella Marley as the ambassador of the Reggae Girlz. Marley has teamed with Lavern Deer, the founder of Jamaica International Female Football Development (JIFFD) to promote the team and sport. Cedella is the daughter of the famous reggae musician, Bob Marley. Deer points out the potential influence that Marley's name alone will provide as she'll be able to capture the attention of donors in order to advance the Girlz as well as the Jamaican Football Federation.

Jamaica soccer women have endured a continual struggle due to insufficient support both in terms of financing, training opportunities and things like poor nutrition and inferior training equipment. It is hoped that the addition of Marley will shed some light on the sport's uphill battle and result in the money and support that is necessary to properly fund the Reggae Girlz. The goal is to recruit long term supporters that will help the program flourish for decades into the future. If the team is provided with the proper training development and financial support, it will eventually be able to seriously compete with the USA, Canada and Mexico.

Deer has spent years researching how to run a successful program. One of her specific goals is to recruit corporate support so that the Reggae Girlz receive the financial backing that is necessary to achieve long term success. Deer admits that the short term goal is to get the senior level team to the World Cup competition. She thinks that the addition of Marley and her associates will allow the squad to tap into vital resources.
The team's participation in the highly successful U-17 CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers in Montego Bay last year goes to show that the sport is economically viable and there is significant public interest that will only grow in the future.

Specifically, Marley will work with Deer to determine what the Girlz' most pressing needs are in terms of training, nutrition and travel expenses. They'll collaborate to develop a plan of action and implement it to the best of their abilities. They've both agreed that international camps and exhibition matches are two key steppingstones to raising the sport's profile and capturing much needed media attention.

Deer likes to point out that FIFA is pressing for the growth and further development of female football around the globe. She hopes that this massive effort will provide the catalyst that spurs big time investors to lend a helping hand. The recent addition of the senior level Girlz squad is definitely a shot in the arm for women's football. The team had to suspend operations for 4 straight seasons due to poor funding. Now that the senior team is back and Marley is on board with the cause, the profile of women's football will only rise higher from here on out.

Cedella Marley Help Sending the Jamaican Soccer Team to 2015 Women's World Cup

The Reggae Girlz is a Jamaican Soccer women's club that has been rising to the top of the ranks and may even perform well enough to join in the Women’s World Cup in 2015. Unfortunately, they may be held back from being part due to a lack of funding from the Jamaican Football Federation that leaves them without the means for activities such as traveling for scrimmages.

The good news is that Bob Marley’s oldest daughter Cedella wants to make a difference by becoming the club’s ambassador and giving them a chance to overcome this obstacle by spreading the news and starting to fundraise, so the Girlz can afford to train and travel to prime them for the possibility of making it to the Women’s Cup.

The Reggae Girlz have attained the regional ranking of number 4, and this is without the support of the Jamaican Football Federation. Imagine what could happen with it. Cedella wants the Reggae Girlz to gain recognition like their male counterparts, the Reggae Boyz. She believes that the Girlz will have a greater opportunity if they can raise the funds to have to access to things like good nutrition, living quarters, and training like other clubs who strive to enter the Cup. Without those things, the Reggae Girlz are at an unfair disadvantage.

Marley has a son whose coach’s daughter is on the team of under seventeen, and the coach sent a flyer over to Marley, reaching out to her with the hope that Cedella could become a help for the team by assisting with fundraising and helping out. Cedella decided to look into the ways that she could help the rising Jamaican Soccer women’s club to achieve their dreams.

For anybody who would like to join in this great cause, there is a campaign called the “GoFundMe” campaign, where those who would like to support the Jamaican women’s team and see them move ahead can donate to their group. Any of the support received through donations to GoFundMe will give the girls the necessary funds to start doing things like playing against other teams for practice. The money will cover the cost of travel, as well as sleeping arrangements on the road at hotels.

By having this kind of access to improved training opportunities, the Reggae Girlz will have a fighting chance to boost their skills and increase their chance of getting into the Women’s World Cup. Most of the funding from the Federation backs the men’s team, so with this kind of funding the women could really rise to the top, judging by how well they’ve done without it.

Voice readers split over Usain Bolt’s football dream

So the fastest man in the world wants to, excuse the pun, bolt from his sport to play in the world's pre-eminent football tournament, the World Cup.

Sounds insane? Don't blink an eye and hold the phone.

Usain Bolt said he wanted to play for Manchester United after taking the podium in 2012 with gold medals dangling around his neck. And now, a Jamaican newspaper reports, Jamaican Football Federation team coach Winfried Schafer is clamoring for Bolt to be part of the Jamaican soccer men's 2018 World Cup team.
The Voice asked its readers if they think the 27-year-old Jamaican should trade his track shoes for football cleats.

Well my motto is "Anything is possible I don't think limits: http://t.co/NUfsqmZIyq
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) March 2, 2014

More than 60 percent of respondents said Bolt should keep working at being faster than the speed of light and stay in track and field. Of those who answered the poll, 41 percent said Bolt should not attempt to switch sports. Another 20 percent were adamant and said Bolt should not play football for Jamaica.
When asked what Bolt should do, 39 percent said the Olympic gold-medal winner should play for the Reggae Boyz.

The 2018 World Cup is far off, and the 2014 World Cup champion still needs to be crowned later this year. What Bolt does is anyone's guess but if a recent picture is any indication, expect to see him racing up the pitch in 2018.
Bolt sent the Jamaican Star a Photoshopped image of himself wearing a Jamaican Football Federation uniform with the caption: "Anything's Possible."
The question that needs to be answered is if the sprinter is actually good enough to compete at the level that World Cup footballers compete at? As an athlete who strives to be the best in his field, and Bolt certainly is that, will he be happy if his football skills are less than his opponents?

Bolt has said that he is an accomplished player and at 6-foot, 5-inches he has the build to be a threat on the pitch. And Schafer cannot wait to get Bolt into training camp.
"We can make him better," Schafer told the Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner. "When he has good training with our team here in Jamaica, we can make him a very good player. He's very fast, that's clear, but when he learns with the ball then he'll be one of the best players."
But even before thinking about playing with the Jamaican soccer men at the 2018 World Cup, Bolt has the 2016 Olympics to consider.

"Maybe after the Olympics in Brazil (2016), I want to see him in our team," Schafer said. "That is what I want to tell him. I hope he wants to play for his country."

About Jamaican Soccer Men Senior Group

The first match played for the Jamaicans in international play came against Haiti in 1925; they won one to zero, and a national team was born. The Jamaican Federation was officially funded in 1910 and they became FIFA affiliated in 1962, where they were thereafter eligible to compete to play in World Cup matches. Under the hand of the federation, the Jamaican national team has had a rich history, and posses accomplishments that any fan of the team can be proud of. Perhaps the best accomplishment from the Jamaicans came in 1998.

France played host to the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the Jamaicans worked hard to qualify. In successfully doing so, Jamaica became the first native English speaking country of the Caribbean to qualify for the World Cup. It was on June 14, 1998 in Lens when the club took on Croatia; a match that will never be forgotten, despite the losing result for the Jamaican club. The game that day ended in a final score of three to one in the favor of the team from Europe, however, there was reason to be excited for the Jamaicans, as they scored a goal: their first ever in the World Cup tournament.



There wasn't much to celebrate during the next match for the Jamaican Federation, as the national team was defeated by Argentina by a final match score of five to zero. But leading into their final match of the World Cup in France, the boys didn't let the two defeats get them down in the preparation for a meeting against Japan. The two teams met at the Stade Gerland in Lyon on June 26. Theodore Whitmore got the scoring started for Jamaica in the thirty-ninth minute, and again in the fifty-fourth minute. The match was tight, but the team from the small island nation held on to beat Japan 2-1. They became the smallest nation to win a match in the Fifa World Cup.

The tournament was full of records for Jamaica--including being the smallest nation ever to score in a World Cup match, as well as win.
Jamaica has never regained their 1998 breakthrough, but they still compete hard in the CONCACAF region, against teams like the United States and Mexico for one of three automatic bids to the World Cup tournament. The Jamaican Soccer Federation's president, Captain Horace Burrell, hopes the Reggae Boyz can again qualify for the World Cup in 2018.