The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has come to the aid of Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz yet again with an injection of $25 million towards preparations for the team’s Olympic Games qualification tie.
The JOA, the local apex governing body for Olympic sports on the island, first lent a helping hand in 2018 when it facilitated the Reggae Girlz to participate at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia.
That platform aided in the preparation and development of the team which later that year qualified for its first FIFA World Cup Tournament slated for France the following year.
The Reggae Girlz have since repeated the trick by qualifying for a second-consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals in Australia and New Zealand which was held earlier this year.
Of the $25 million sponsorship, $10 million will go towards player incentives.
The Lorne Donaldson-coached Reggae Girlz are scheduled to open their home-and-away tie against CONCACAF’s powerhouse team Canada inside Kingston’s National Stadium on Friday, with the return leg at the BMO Field in Toronto next week Tuesday.
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Foster hopes history repeats itself
The winner of the two-game tie will advance to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, alongside fellow CONCACAF representative, the United States of America, who had won the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s Championship.
The JOA’s Secretary General Ryan Foster is hoping that history will repeat itself.
“The CAC Games was a launching pad for the Reggae Girlz team and they have gone on to qualify for two World Cups and now we are saying history again, legacy again for the Olympic Games.”
Foster added: “For far too long we have seen that sport takes cash to care, but it also takes something that is a little more, that partnership, that love, that support structure that is needed … and we want to continue to be a part of that history.
“Not only will we support the cause in terms of the Olympic Games qualifiers that are coming up, in partnership with the JFF and Bob Marley Foundation, but we are going a little bit further, we are actually going to be announcing bonuses for the girls during these qualifiers.
Player incentives up for grabs
“So there will be bonuses assigned for goals scored, assists made, clean sheets and of course the main prize, qualification for the Olympic Games, which is the team prize. That’s the first in the history of the JOA.”
JFF President Michael Ricketts was appreciative of the continued support of the JOA, not just to football, but all sporting disciplines.
“I say without any apology or any reservation that this JOA seems to touch the lives of every single sporting association… we are eternally grateful for the support that we have gotten from the JOA and today we can’t scoff at $25m worth of sponsorship and we want to use this opportunity to ask the Jamaicans to come out and give the Girlz your support,” the JFF boss said.
“Gentlemen, huge thanks to you and this could very well be another investment like it was at the CAC Games that took us to the World Cup… this investment will take us to the Olympics.
“The Girlz have made us proud and when you think that a small country like ours has qualified for two consecutive global tournaments it is nothing to scoff at.”
Walker-Brown heaps praise on JOA
Ricketts said when his administration took office, the Reggae Girlz were ranked 119th on the FIFA listing, but now the team is ranked 37th following their historic second round progression at the World Cup earlier this summer.
Elaine Walker-Brown, the long-time chairperson of the JFF’s Women’s Committee, also heaped praise on the JOA for its unrelenting support,
“I want to say thanks to the JOA. I remember before we went out to France they had insisted that the senior Girlz go to Colombia as preparation and it did bear fruits, so thank you very much Mr Samuda and your team for believing in the Reggae Girlz because you are always interested to know what is happening and how you can help.”
Reggae Girlz Ambassador Cedella Markey paid tribute to the resilience of the team via a video clip.
“We can never praise them enough and they can never hear enough of the now lasting impression they have made on this world,” she said. “Not just the sporting world, but on women and girls across the globe.
“And it bears repeating that it’s not been an easy road and yet still the Reggae Girlz have remained positive and committed.
“The Reggae Girlz’s story has been a story of firsts, and as an ambassador of this wonderful group, I pledge to do everything to ensure that we add another first to the list, which is the opportunity to compete for an Olympic medal. I know we can do it. You see our Reggae Girlz, they stay in warrior mode and it is still on.”
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