Marlo Sweatman’s vision for women’s football goes beyond the shores of her ancestral home Jamaica.

The Reggae Girlz midfielder, who recently signed with Hungarian outfit St Mihaly FC, hopes the success of Jamaica’s women’s football can be the catalyst for a revolution in the region’s game.

Jamaica’s historic qualification to the Fifa Women’s World Cup in France, from June 7 to July 7, has sparked hope in the Caribbean that football dreams can indeed become reality.

Sweatman, 24, cautioned, however, that while Jamaica is a shining example of what’s possible, the road to success may be a ragged one.

“In my eyes it was very important for a Caribbean team to finally make the breakthrough. I think it’s so important because now other Caribbean countries can believe it can be done.

“I hope a lesson they (other Caribbean countries) will learn is that there will be trials and adversity to be faced when trying to make history, but when those roadblocks hit you have to trust the process and stay true to the goal. I truly believe that’s what caused our success as a group, for we all believed in the same dream and did everything we could to make it possible,” she said.

Sweatman, who was born and raised in Virginia to American-Jamaican parents, said while dreaming is important, corporate and government support is a key element on the road to success.

“I personally think support and funding would help the Caribbean teams grow more. Also, support from the local as well as the federations abroad will help further.

“They must start with the youth and work their way up, and it’s not something that will happen overnight, so it’s important for people to invest in these programmes,” she reasoned.

Sweatman, a graduate of the University of Oregon where she gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in crime, law and society, paused to pay tribute to the pioneering work of others.

“For example it’s not just our staff and the players rostered in the 2018 team that qualified that did all the work, but it’s also those who came before us and invested in what is now breaking through. So, I believe that the same obtains for other countries, where it’s important to invest in the process,” she stated.

Sweatman, a central midfielder, recommended that it would be worthy for nations wishing to follow in Jamaica’s footsteps to focus attention in getting their players in professional setups or in the US college system, a model that has worked in driving the growth of coach Hue Menzies’ Girlz.

“I think countries like Jamaica can learn from overseas systems, which are all about consistency and discipline. I think the most important thing I see while playing overseas is players wanting to get better and who train every single day towards that… they watch their nutrition, train hard, evaluate their performances and they understand it’s what you do off the field that affects your on-the-field performance.

“With that in mind, showing and teaching that professionalism to players in the Caribbean will take them to the next level, because players in the Caribbean, and especially in Jamaica, have extreme amounts of physical talent,” Sweatman argued.

Jamaica, along with global powerhouses USA and Canada, will represent Concacaf in France next summer, and Sweatman says the mission is to “make a positive statement” on the biggest stage of all.

“We want to go and make a positive statement to the world and to make Jamaica even more proud of us. And by playing with the best, that will only bring the best out of us,” she quipped.

While Jamaica’s women’s football is way behind the likes of the USA, Canada, and to a lesser extent Mexico, Sweatman believes the gap is closing, if not in resources and programmes, but certainly competitively on the field of play.

“I believe we are catching up, and that Jamaica has qualified for the World Cup is proof in itself,” she said.

Jamaica will contest Group C of the Fifa Women’s World Cup against Brazil, Australia and Italy.