Reggae Girlz frustration

WITH THE Reggae Girlz set to take on England in an international friendly on June 29 at the King Power Stadium, head coach Hubert Busby Jr said he will be focusing on the positives as his squad will be without several of his more experienced players.

Busby was speaking yesterday at a Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) press conference where he announced his 20-player squad for the upcoming friendly against the England Lionesses.

In announcing his squad, there were several notable absences, which included Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, Rebecca Spencer, Sydney Schneider, Taylor Hinds, Jody Brown, Drew Spence, Deneisha Blackwood, and Konya Plummer.

Busby sought to focus on the positives as he believes it will bring more opportunities for younger players to gain valuable international experience against world-class opponents.

“Yes, it is frustrating not to have a lot of our experienced players,” Busby said. “A lot of the experienced players are coming off very long seasons, and their clubs have asked, and they need their mandatory breaks.

“But it offers opportunities for players to come up. The reality is that you have to extract the positives.”

Busby said this could prove pivotal for the team as they continue their preparations for the Concacaf W Qualifiers, which are scheduled to begin in October this year.

The W Qualifiers will be used to determine the teams that will advance to the Concacaf W Championships, which serves as the region’s qualifying tournament for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Busby explained that this opportunity against England would allow for the younger players to be better prepared for their World Cup Qualifiers if they are called upon.

“At the end of the day, we are missing players, but what happens if we’re missing players in October when things are out of our control?

“Now going into that first round, we’ve given experience to our younger players who have that exuberance and excitement and that energy they bring. Yes, they are going to sometimes make mistakes, but they’re growing.”

The Girlz have faced a very demanding string of fixtures over the past year, which has seen them taking on four of the top-10-ranked teams in the world.

Busby said that while the final results might not have been going their way, the programme has been picking up invaluable lessons from each fixture they play.

“Without a doubt, we’ve played the toughest schedule in Concacaf within the last calendar year in terms of coefficient rankings with teams in the top 10 of the world. But we haven’t shied away from people,” he said.

“Yes, no one wants to lose football matches, but when we’re able to extract what we see and what we get in ways that sometimes the normal supporters might not get, we’re taking away a lot of positives from it.”

The entire contingent of players and coaching staff are now in England and will begin their preparations for the upcoming fixture.

Busby is confident that come matchday, his players will be ready to face the highly fancied Lionesses.

“We’re currently in England right now and we start training [today]. The players have arrived, so everyone has arrived.

“Everyone is happy, and everyone is ready to go. We’ll obviously have some jet lag, so we’ll ease them in. I’m sure by the end of the week, they’ll be raring to go.”

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com

FULL SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Liya Brooks, Serena Mensah, Aliyah Morgan

Defenders: Allyson Swaby, Naya Cardoza, Chantelle Swaby, Amelia Van Zanten, Nyema Ingleton, Tiffany Cameron

Midfielders: Atlanta Primus, Olufolasade Adamolekun, Vyan Sampson, Jade Mitchell, Jade Bailey

Forwards: Kayla McKenna, Kalyssa Van Zanten, Kameron Simmonds, Reanna Blades, Natasha Thomas, Ricshya Walker