by The Professor
SOUTH FLORIDA – The Reggae Girlz unprecedented run within the Girls’s World Cup got here to an finish Tuesday morning (EST). No nation with a inhabitants as small as Jamaica’s (2.8 million) had ever superior so far as the Jamaican girls did. The Reggae Boyz, at their solely look within the World Cup (arguably the world’s second greatest sporting occasion behind the Olympics) secured a victory however did not advance previous the group stage. The primary purpose that they conceded from match’s outset, proved to be pricey, as they have been capable of overcome the 1-0 deficit. The Girlz had a number of promising alternatives, nonetheless they have been unable to place the ball behind the online.
They deserve nice commendation for his or her efforts, particularly within the face of very austere circumstances. They are going to be acknowledged in South Florida in October of this 12 months. Hopefully, this designation will assist to bolster the fan base and can entice some monetary help from their supporters. One ought to attempt to keep in mind or familiarize themself with the names of the gamers. A few of them play in England and different overseas nations professionally. A number of ply their commerce within the USWL (United States Girls’s League). Jody Brown and others are within the midst of collegiate careers. The youngest, Solai Washington, will presumably begin her senior 12 months of highschool late, as faculty has already resumed in Atlanta, GA.
The shortage of help for girls’s sports activities, particularly compared to the help the boys take pleasure in, is GLARING. This phenomenon is just not distinctive to Jamaican society. A preferred Brazilian restaurant in South Florida boast 250 to 300 patrons at their soccer viewing events. When the Brazilian males’s group is taking part in within the World Cup, there are huge display screen TVs, djs, a number of liquor, and lots of Brazilian lovers clad in blue, inexperienced, and yellow. Conversely, the final time the ladies’s World Cup performed in 2019, a visit to the restaurant’ allowed one to look at perhaps 25 patrons consuming lunch. There was no enthusiasm, no fanfare, no supporters in Brazilian Regalia, no sport on. Apparently, the employees of the restaurant was unaware that their ladies’s nationwide aspect have been taking part in at that second.
Girls’s sports activities the world over are underscored and underfinanced. Our Reggae Girlz stay undeterred and unmoved despite the efforts of some to undermine. These Girlz are certainly bucking one of many greatest traits in Jamaica proper now. In Jamaica many individuals ah DRIFT (are drifting) and a “frig up een ya”.
The Reggae Girlz stay centered on proudly representing their nation, uplifting themselves, and uniting below the banner of Girls’s Soccer. Be not dismayed that most of the gamers are overseas born (to Jamaican dad and mom or descended from Jamaican grandparents). They’re all JAMAICAN residents.
Commentators on the World Cup have been very fast to level out the entire groups’ gamers with U.S. affiliations (fatherland, place of faculty, place of residence). Conversely, had stated gamers been criminals it’s fairly sure that they’d not be known as “U.S. residents having ties with Jamaica.” It’s harking back to Canada’s love hate affair with Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson was a “Canadian citizen with ties to Jamaica” when he was operating properly. After it was found that he had certainly engaged in efficiency enhancing medicine, Canada was fast to distance themself from him. Subsequently, Johnson turned a “Jamaican, residing in Canada”. Allow us to name it” Ben Johnson Syndrome”.
Deserving Assist
The REGGAE GIRLZ NEED and extra importantly, are DESERVING of our help. South Florida ought to mixture en masse in October and help them, on their impending go to. The go to may arguably be known as a “victory tour”. Regardless of the truth that they won’t win this 12 months’s version of the match, they’re certainly winners. Within the meantime, proceed watching the Girls’s World Cup, till its conclusion, the ladies want our help! Don’t overlook concerning the Sunshine Girlz, who’re dominating the netball courts.
Our focus should proceed to be on the Jamaica Reggae Girlz World Cup Mission!