Football – Women’s League
Women’s football in Jamaica has come a long way since the JFF took over the affairs from the Jamaica Women’s Association.
The women’s national team is nicknamed the ‘Reggae Girlz. The women team has developed into one of the top national sides in the Caribbean region.
Outside of the Caribbean region the women team has struggled. The team’s first international was against Caribbean rivals Haiti on April 17, 1991 which the Jamaicans lost 1-0.
The Reggae Girlz achieved their biggest win on October 5, 2007 when they hammered Antigua and Barbuda 12-0.
The biggest defeats for the Reggae Girlz came against Canada on July 18, 2007 in Brazil and the United States on August 19, 1994 in Canada. The Reggae Girlz lost 11-1 to Canada and 10-0 to the United States.
The Reggae Girlz have qualified for two Women’s Gold Cup tournaments.
The team’s best performance at the Women’s Gold Cup tournament was a fourth place finish at the 2006 championship, the third edition of the tournament, in the United States.
Jamaica made it to the semi-finals and was beaten 4-nil by Canada and in the third place play-off, the Reggae Girlz lost 3-0 to Mexico at the Home Depot Centre on November 26.
The Reggae Girlz also qualified for the second edition of the Gold Cup in 2002, which was hosted by the United States and Canada. Jamaica lost all their preliminary round games. Jamaica were beaten 2-0 by Costa Rica, 9-0 by Canada and 2-1 by Haiti.
The JFF is now on a mission to further develop women’s football and has set up a special committee to review the standard of the women’s competition across the island.