July 11, 2022 is now recorded in Jamaica’s rich and colourful history as the day when our senior national women’s football team qualified for their second-consecutive Fifa World Cup Finals.

Our congratulations to the team, Coach Mr Lorne Donaldson, his support staff, the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation and Ms Cedella Marley through her Football is Freedom initiative on this monumental feat which has made all Jamaica proud.

The entire country was on tenterhooks as the senior Reggae Girlz took the field against our Caribbean neighbours Haiti in a match that we had to win in order to make it through to the 2023 World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

As we had expected, the match was tough. But the fact that the Reggae Girlz were able to lift themselves after the 0-5 drubbing from back-to-back world champions United States last Thursday, to hand Haiti a 4-0 spanking, is an indication that they possess the grit and drive to compete at the highest level.

However, much more is needed for the Reggae Girlz and wider Jamaican football to achieve their true worth.

Sustained success demands resources, time, and great effort that must be led by the local governing body, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). Last week in this space we noted that, ahead of these qualifiers in Mexico, the Reggae Girlz were considerably aided by a two-week preparation camp in high-altitude Denver, Colorado, supervised by Mr Donaldson.

We had pointed out that Mr Donaldson was able to mobilise that training camp with the help of the Marley charity groups.

Ms Marley has been supporting women’s football over many years and we remember well that she played a significant role in getting the Reggae Girlz to qualify for the 2019 finals in France.

But if Jamaica is to make greater strides in the women’s game, and, for that matter, the men’s game, the JFF has to be transformed into a professional body, staffed with people who know how to manage what is really a massive business.

The current haphazard way of running the country’s football programme should not continue. Success on the field won’t be sustained if off-the-field inefficiencies and mismanagement persist.

The JFF, we suggest, should look closely at how Mr Chris Williams and his team at Professional Football Jamaica Limited run the Jamaica Premier League. Mr Williams told us that he and his team had a goal to create a remarkable product that adds value and motivates spectators to purchase tickets again. They achieved that in the just concluded premier league season which, he said, saw the final between Harbour View FC and Dunbeholden FC broadcast live in 26 countries, including the New York tri-state area.

The revenue that can be earned from that level of marketing, promotion and planning would make it easier to pump resources into the development of the sport, improve facilities and, indeed, help many Jamaicans earn in all areas related to football.

There’s no doubt that the talent to play the game exists here. It needs to be nurtured, fine-tuned, and exposed in a sustained manner. This is more than a game; it is, as we have often pointed out, big business.