PANAMA CITY, Panama — Parents of Jamaica’s overseas-based Reggae Girlz are caught between two emotions regarding the state of the women’s game in Jamaica.

The concerned group of about six sets of parents, some of whom are here for the ongoing CONCACAF Under-20 Women’s Championship, have expressed delight at the showing of the Girlz, but equally they were unreserved in their criticism of the general lack of support for women’s football in Jamaica.

“First of all, I was very proud of their performance as they did extremely well at times in both games (Mexico and Canada), and primarily in the one against Canada, which I thought they were outstanding for the entire game,” said Christopher Patterson, father of central defender Toriana Patterson.

“I was disappointed though when I reflected on the game and how close the girls were in my mind in qualifying for Japan and how beneficial that would have been for them educationally and from a social perspective,” said the former Wolmer’s Boys student.

Patterson, an accountant in the USA, said it’s hard not to imagine what could have been achieved if more energy was thrown behind the programme of the Under-20s, who were eliminated after losses to powerhouses Mexico (3-1) and Canada (2-0).

“I thought that if they had more preparation, more commitment by the Jamaica Football Federation, the girls could have performed better… I know what the preparation is in Canada and the USA because I have been around soccer for 10 years and I am also familiar with the girls on the Canadian team and the colleges they go to and I know that they are experienced and train for 11 months out of a 12-month year,” he told the Observer from the Continental Hotel and Casino in the Panama capital.

Patterson said it would be a shame if these girls did not get the opportunity of self-actualisation with their God-given talent.

“The girls are very talented, and as you know, we have a lot of raw athletic talent and skills in Jamaica, but those skills need to be honed over time and the girls need all the commitment from the country so that they can get to the next level,” he noted.

Apart from the action on the field, Patterson has found support from other parents here that women’s football has its role in upgrading the decaying social fabric in Jamaica, therefore government and corporate society have a responsibility to act in a sustained manner.

“I think socially and from an educational standpoint it’s important for our girls to do well… to get an opportunity of a free education, to travel around the States with their team… so it goes way beyond just football. It has been proven in the US that girls around soccer or who play soccer do better academically and are less inclined for teen pregnancy,” said Patterson, who also travelled to Cuba and the Dominican Republic for the Caribbean rounds of the World Cup qualifiers.

Sergeant Ed Sweatman of the US Army and the father of striker/midfielder Marlo Sweatman, said in his mind a lot went down the drain with the elimination of the Girlz, but also gave rise to a need to critically look at what caused the team to fail after demonstrating so much potential.

“I was pleased with the work ethics that the girls put into it… when I woke up this morning (Sunday) and thought about it, I got a bit angry because I realised that they were perhaps 15 minutes away from creating history, and perhaps the reason they missed it was because they didn’t have the support to make that last 15 minutes, they have on their own carried themselves for 75 minutes… maybe if Jamaican corporations were behind them, today we would be talking possibly about Jamaican history,” he noted.

Sweatman, who is here with his Jamaican-born wife Beverly, said he’s confident that there is a future for women’s football in Jamaica.

“I know that there is a future for women’s football for Jamaica based on what I have seen. I know that my daughter will come back to finish what she started here… I am here only to support my daughter, but the other girls who are on this team could give inspiration to the other girls in Jamaica that so much more is achievable by putting forth the effort,” he said.

Personally, Ed Sweatman said he’s grateful that his American-born daughter was given a tremendous opportunity through the national football programme to reconnect with her Jamaican roots in a way she never had before.

“My dad was in the Air Force and I travelled a lot around the world, so I got to learn about different cultures, so I am really glad that Marlo had the opportunity to see where and learn about where her mom comes from, and maybe this will allow her to understand her mom a little bit more,” he said on Sunday.

“There is more than just the United States and there is a whole world out there and I want her to experience it and I am happy that she has an opportunity to do it with Jamaica,” Sweatman added.

The parents of these overseas-born players have formed a group and communicate regularly on matters related to the team, and it was from one of these brainstorming sessions they all decided that they would cover the air travel costs for their kids to go to Jamaica for a four-day training camp in preparation for the current CONCACAF tournament.

“I am a sergeant in the USA Army and I don’t make a lot of money, so this is a sacrifice for myself and my wife, but we are committed because we believe it’s a worthwhile cause… we don’t do this on a whim because we fly down to Panama and stay in hotel, because financially this hurts, but we realise that the return on that investment is going to be huge, not only for my daughter, but for all the girls growing up in Jamaica who feel they have no alternatives,” said Sweatman.

Roy McCatty, father of another team regular Adriana Johnson who could not make this trip due to school commitments, said he and his wife Claudette had to bear the pain with their daughter as they watched the Girlz lose agonisingly late in the match against Canada as they appeared poised for an upset.

“Claudette and I watched both games in their entirety. Adrie was very disappointed that she wasn’t able to make the trip and had a hard time watching the entire games. Although she has some very close friends on her high school team, she has told me more than once that she prefers playing for her country and has more fun doing so,” McCatty said via an email response yesterday.

McCatty, who played first-class cricket for Jamaica before moving to Canada and then the USA, said whenever his daughter plays for Jamaica, she wears the nation’s colours with pride.

“As you may know, ‘Adrie’ was born in Canada and moved to the United States in 2002. She is now a naturalised Jamaican and she is very proud of that. She is very proud and excited to wear the Black, Green and Gold uniform and wears her Jamaica shorts and shirt at every opportunity,” he said.

McCatty says while Adriana has been a regular at camps staged by the Olympic Development Programme (ODP) in the USA where parents have to pay for their children to attend, she has learnt far more since her inclusion in the national Jamaica set-up.

“Adrie learned far more at the camp at Mona than she learned at any of the ODP camps and you know which of those camps did not cost the player?” he asked.

McCatty believes the women’s programme will continue to be starved of corporate support until it works out a way to raise income for itself, but certainly in a structured way with the blessing of the governing body of the sport, the JFF.

“The women’s programme should start finding ways to earn monies and build their own account and could start by linking up with the Jamaica Tourist Board and/or travel agents to promote combination soccer camps and family vacation during the Spring, Summer and Christmas seasons. Parents could come down to Jamaica with their daughters and enjoy a great vacation, while their daughters attend soccer camps run by some of the best coaches available anywhere,” he said.

The other foreign-raised players in the team, who were down to face Haiti yesterday in their final match of the tournament, are Kimberly Spence, Shanyce Shaw, Chinyelu Asher, Taylor Grant and Alika Keene.