THE Sunshine Girls are drawing on the inspiration from the Reggae Boyz who just completed a very impressive CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament where they reached the final for the first time, losing 1-3 against Mexico. In their march to the final showdown, the Boyz recorded another first as they defeated the United States in the US for the first time.

“Even though we are already a highly motivated team, the journey of the Reggae Boyz (to the final) acted as another great source of inspiration and motivation for us. At the end of the day, it’s all about the philosophy of never saying never; not until that final whistle goes. You have to have the guts, that determination; you have to have that self-belief. Many people doubted the Reggae Boyz, they didn’t even bank on them getting past the first round,” Nicole Aiken-Pinnock, captain of the Sunshine Girls said.

Similar to the Reggae Boyz, the Sunshine Girls have often been labelled as a group who frequently underperforms, having been usually placed outside of the top two. This time though, the Girls will be hoping to beat the odds as the Reggae Boyz did in going to the final, and overtake Australia and New Zealand to capture the top spot. Australia and New Zealand have consistently been the top two teams in the world, with Jamaica trading places with England for third and fourth positions.

“The Boyz knew what they wanted to achieve. Even when the odds were against them, they believed in their talents, their coaches (which we do) and they believed in themselves. “Similarly I also believe in my teammates and I think we will go out, do the job and bring home the trophy,” said a confident, almost defiant Aiken-Pinnock.