Young Reggae Girlz Captain Jody Brown is the only Fifa Women’s World Cup player at the Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship. She has made that very clear, having so far led her team with distinction in Dominican Republic.

Despite her small stature and shy nature, Brown stood out above the rest during the Group E round robin by once again demonstrating that her true personality comes to light when she has a ball at her feet.

The Lime Hall, St Ann, native is a dangerous package of speed and flair, and she has so far used those attributes to good effect, dazzling defenders from Guatemala, El Salvador, and the more formidable Canada.

While her performances may come as a surprise to some, Brown, who is one of only a few players to represent the country at all levels, knows all too well that her capabilities give her team a chance to win any game.

And she proved just that with a stellar display in the young Reggae Girlz’ historic 3-1 win over Canada on Wednesday, scoring one and playing a part in the other two.

That win was the icing on the cake for the 17-year old who was also instrumental in Jamaica’s come-from-behind 4-4 stalemate with Guatemala and comfortable 4-1 win over El Salvador.

Jamaica finished atop the group on seven points and 11 goals to their name, with Brown accounting for five and Marlee Fray, four, while Lacey-Ann Murray had two.

“I know what I can do for my team, so I know as one of the most experienced players I have to lead from the front to put them in the best position to win a game. So, I am very pleased that we finished the group stage on a positive note with a win against Canada, because our objective was to top the group and I’m very proud that we did that,” Brown told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Though she possesses enough quality to be identified as one of the proverbial big stars, Brown, who will be 18 in April, believes there is still room for growth and as such remains committed to improving her craft.

“I am still young and have a lot to learn from the game, and I am not exactly where I want to be as yet in terms of my skill set, so I believe there is always room for improvement and I am currently using this tournament to work on a few things to improve my game,” the Montverde Academy student noted.

With the first hurdle cleared, Brown and her teammates are focusing their lens on the knockout stage where they will first face Bermuda tomorrow.

A win there would see them go on to face hosts the Dominican Republic or El Salvador in the quarter-finals, where another victory could possibly see them come face-to-face with 2018 beaten finalists United States or Canada in the semi-finals.

Only the March 8 finalists will qualify for the World Cup to be hosted by Costa Rica and Panama.

“We have started well so far and we just want to take each game in stride and so we just have to go out there and play hard and continue to do what we know that we can do and hopefully get the three points,” Brown reasoned.

“From the start of the tournament I know that my team will make Jamaica proud and we’ve done that. So we just want to continue working our way towards qualifying which is the main thing right now.

“I’m very confident that we will continue to do well, but we can’t be too overconfident. We just have to stay focused as a team and make the right decisions on the field and we will come out victorious,” she ended.

— Sherdon Cowan