In just a short week in Florida, the Reggae Girlz have created a stir by winning their friendly against Florida’s FC-Surge before a sea of cheering Jamaican fans and friends. As we gear up for their historic outing in the Fifa Women’s World Cup in France, let us remember that there was no women’s league in Jamaica five years ago. Now the Reggae Girlz are being highlighted on CNN and in the Miami Herald .

In a feature by Aimee Lewis on the CNN Sports website, headlined ‘It’s way more than football – Jamaica’s remarkable journey to France’, we learn that Head Coach Hugh Menzies did not give up in 2015 when the Reggae Girlz failed to qualify for the World Cup. Instead, he guided their placement on teams and in boarding schools where they could continue to hone their skill.

Lewis writes: “Despite the inactivity, Menzies said he knew the JFF (Jamaica Football Federation) would eventually ask him to form a team for the 2019 World Cup qualifying campaign because Fifa was putting pressure on every national federation to support the women’s game.

“Late last year, the governing body announced a five-pronged global strategy to grow the game, one being to ensure all 211 members have comprehensive women’s plans in place by 2022.”

It was a struggle for the team, which may not have survived without the intervention of Cedella Marley, who engaged the co-founder of the Alacran Foundation, Alessandra Lo Savio, bringing them on board as a sponsor.

Menzies expressed his thanks to Marley in the interview with CNN: “Big up to Cedella Marley for putting her neck on the line for us… She told me her purpose. A large part of it is her dad’s love for the game; and, second of all, she wanted to inspire young females in Jamaica.”

Marley also persuaded Menzies to take a break from his coaching job in Florida to guide the team, working for nothing until a contract was finally awarded. Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia “Babsy” Grange has also been supportive of the Girlz.

Spirits were high when we ascended the steps of Jamaica’s National Stadium to watch our Girlz work their magic to beat Panama 3-1 in a friendly last week Sunday. Their athleticism shone through, and this is a quality that has the eyes of the world watching our Reggae Girlz. Ace striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw scored two of the three goals.

Writer Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald compares the excitement around the Reggae Girlz to our bobsled team whose story became the famous Disney movie Cool Runnings. She highlighted these players: “The 23-player World Cup roster includes former University of Tennessee star Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw and Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt’s cousin Chanel Hudson-Marks. Florida is well represented. Midfielder Lauren Silver is a Miami native who played at Plantation American Heritage High and University of Florida. Forward Ashleigh Shim played at Florida International University. Midfielder Marlo Sweatman and forward Cheyna Matthews (wife of NFL wide receiver Jordan Matthews) played at Florida State. Defender Konya Plummer played at University of Central Florida, and goalkeeper Nicole McClure and forward Trudi Carter played at University of South Florida. Among the other locals in training camp was 33-year-old Fort Lauderdale native Christina Chang, who played at Florida Atlantic University and works as an air traffic controller at Miami International Airport.”

As we continue to spend our children’s inheritance by following Team Jamaica to far-flung corners of the world, Hubie and I are heading to France for the second and third games in the first round. We always take mini-flags and souvenirs, leaving in our wake Jamaica-flag waving folks in China, London and Brazil. You cannot believe how happy our international friends are to receive a little memento of Jamaica.

Thank you, Fifa for giving the orders to promote women’s football. Let us, Jamaicans, give more respect to women in sport. Thank you, coach Menzies, Cedella Marley, and our dedicated Reggae Girlz, you are making Brand Jamaica shine!

Water woes

We gave our household worker a lift home, off Whitehall Avenue, and saw a young man pushing a handcart with buckets of water.

“People have to buy water here,” she explained. This drought has been causing so much hardship. Thank goodness, at press time, we have been enjoying rain, and we hope it has made an impact on the nearly empty dams.

I hope the day will come when we can afford to deliver water free of cost to certain communities. I visited a community called Lamba in Cape Town, South Africa, which had humble apartments, but had laundry and bathroom facilities on each floor with free running water. I believe that the cost of the water would be far less than the treatment of illnesses resulting from unhygienic conditions.

We have seen increased traffic around the spring on Norbrook Drive — this is the ‘Constant Spring’ for which the area is named. There have been numerous complaints about traffic congestion and road damage due to the frequent washing of cars by the spring. I would like to suggest that the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation requests the owners of the small, unused lot adjoining the spring to allow access to a few cars at a time so they can use God’s free water to wash their cars and fill containers, while relieving the congestion.

Thank goodness for citizens like the Jardim family, owners of the Rainforest Seafoods facility at Slipe Road below Cross Roads. They use well water for their operations and, after closing time, they make the water available to residents in the area, setting up a standpipe and tiling the area around it to make collection convenient.

Farewell, friends

Last Saturday, there were thanksgiving services for three wonderful individuals: Alice Lee Fatt, Robin duQuesnay and Lloyd Hoo Ping Kong. Lee Fatt was lauded by the staff of Liguanea Drug and Garden for her kindness and by her grandchildren for her loving guidance. Robin duQuesnay, founder of the venerable Lithographic Printers, was renowned for the respect he showed for people of all walks of life. This was memorialised in a letter to the editor from Bruce Golding, who with his sixth form colleagues at Jamaica College, received ready assistance from Robin for their yearbook. I think all of us who used Lithographic Printers’ services can hear Robin’s voice pronouncing our names with emphatic gusto. Robin was a dedicated family man and his wife Diane is a veritable angel for the Ozanam Home, organising renovations and fund-raisers.

The legendary Lloyd “Oloy” Hoo Ping Kong, with his wife Pearline, was a perennial volunteer for the poor at Sts Peter & Paul Church. Lloyd was an exceptional father, businessman, accomplished footballer and cricketer, as well as a dedicated executive member of the Chinese Benevolent Association. His ready smile and cheery quips are unforgettable.

Our deepest sympathy to the families and close friends of these wonderful Jamaicans who have each created a lasting and unique legacy.

lowriechin@aim.com

www.lowrie-chin.blogspot.com