PANAMA CITY, Panama — Even though they may not be the stars of the show here, members of Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz team have caught the eyes and interests of a number of USA-based university and college scouts.

Heading the list is the team’s captain and midfield maestro Trudi Carter, who attends the Jamaican inner-city Trench Town High School. Also in demand is the USA-based quartet of midfielder Carla Daniels (Butler Community College), defender Shanyce Shaw (Southeastern Louisiana University), forward Marlo Sweatman (Flint High School), and winger Chinyelu Asher (Purdue University).

Due to the fact that only initial contact has been made so far regarding the Girlz, and in some cases more than one school has shown an interest in a player, the names of the interested educational institutions have not been revealed.

Head coach Vin Blaine, however, has confirmed that contact has been made through him and parents of the players in question.

“We have had enquiries for Carter, Daniels, Asher, Sweatman and Shaw. Some of these players are in college already… but the ones open now are for Daniels, Carter and Sweatman and it shows that without (winning) championships, the girls benefit as they get the exposure at this level,” said Blaine yesterday, just an hour before the Girlz kicked off their final game of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying play-offs against Haiti.

Scouts from USA-based universities were forced to take a serious look at the Jamaican girls after their commendable performances in defeats to Mexico (3-1) and Canada (2-0) in Group A of the championship.

According to Blaine, immediately after the opening contest against Mexico, enquiries started to pour in for the towering Sweatman.

Other members of the squad attending educational institutions in North America are homegrown goalkeeper Sashagay Spence (Harum College), defender Nugene Nugent (Navarro College), USA-raised striker Kimberly Spence (Auburn University), and Harvard University-bound midfielder Alika Keene.

Over the years, the women’s football programme has been the launching pad for getting many young Jamaicans into the realms of higher education on athletic scholarships.