Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz grapples with senior participant absences for Gold Cup qualifiers
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Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz grapples with senior participant absences for Gold Cup qualifiers

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On Friday, interim Reggae Girlz Head Coach Xavier Gilbert confronted the daunting process of assembling a weakened squad for Jamaica’s two Girls’s Gold Cup Qualifiers this month, following the rejection of invites by the 2023 FIFA Girls’s World Cup heroines.

Gilbert’s appointment by the Jamaica Soccer Federation (JFF) occurred solely a day earlier than the squad choice, and the primary recreation towards Panama is scheduled for subsequent Wednesday. This last-minute appointment adopted the JFF’s unsuccessful seek for a brand new head coach after opting to not renew the contract of Lorne Donaldson, who guided the Reggae Girlz to the Spherical of 16 on the current Girls’s World Cup.

Having beforehand served as an assistant coach beneath Donaldson, Xavier Gilbert now finds himself main the group with minimal preparation time.

CONCACAF W Gold Cup is ready for subsequent yr

The second recreation within the Girls’s Gold Cup Qualifiers shall be towards Guatemala the next Sunday, with solely the group winner advancing to the first-ever CONCACAF W Gold Cup scheduled for February 20 to March 10 subsequent yr in america.

The rejection of invites by senior gamers and technical employees is rooted in issues associated to the teaching employees and unresolved monetary issues, together with excellent funds and bonuses owed to them by the JFF. The absence of key technical employees additional compounds the challenges going through Gilbert and the squad.

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Gilbert expressed his issues, stating, “It needs to be a priority; the group won’t be at its greatest, particularly with a brand new bunch, however that’s what we’ve got to work with.”

He continued, “I can solely management what I can management, and that’s the strategy I’m taking, so we simply going to attempt to arrange them tactically and hopefully no matter we get to do we can give a very good efficiency.”

Squad consists of primarily college-based gamers

Relating to the dearth of technical assist, Gilbert acknowledged, “Implausible backroom employees, I want they have been right here, and the gamers, however they decided which is comprehensible.”

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Left with restricted choices, Gilbert has chosen a squad primarily composed of college-based gamers, with a number of senior gamers who weren’t a part of the current World Cup and Olympic Video games qualifying campaigns.

The chosen squad for Jamaica’s Girls’s Gold Cup Qualifiers consists of:

Goalkeepers: Chriss-Ann Chambers (Dinamo Sokhumi), Javanae Jones (Multnomah College), Alliyah Morgan (George Mason College)

Defenders: Lauren Reid (College of Maryland), Malikae Dayes (AAB in Denmark), Zoe Vidaurre (George Mason College), Nevillegail Ready (College of Maine at Fort Kent), Alika Keene (SK Slavia Praha Zeny), Shanhaine Nelson (Cavalier), Tyiesha Nelson (Reinas Academy), Jayda Hylton-Pelaia (Woodbridge Strikers)

Midfielders: Chinyelu Asher (SCU Torreense), Israela Groves (London Metropolis Lionesses), Marlo Sweatman (Viktoria Haladas), Davia Richards (Hill Faculty), Future Powell (Frazsiers Whip)

Forwards: Ricshya Walker (LaSalle College), Christina Salmon (William Carey College), Mikayla Dayes (Rodez AF in France), Shaneil Buckley (Frazsiers Whip), Natoya Atkinson (Seaward County), Melissa Johnson (Charlton Athletic Girls FC), Sydnie Avenue (Seneca Faculty).

Learn the most recent Reggae Girlz information:

The squad is scheduled to assemble in Panama Metropolis on Monday, with coaching set for Tuesday forward of the sport towards Panama on Wednesday.