Elaine Walker-Brown, head of the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF’s) Women’s Committee, is calling on parish associations and corporate Jamaica to channel greater resources into developing the sport at the grassroots level.

Even with the growing success of Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz, she said that largely due to lack of resources, the female football programme continues to lag behind.

“We need funding so that we can have the different programmes across the island to develop the youngsters. But if we don’t have the resources, we can’t do it,” Walker-Brown told the Jamaica Observer.

“It’s not an administrative problem, it’s a funding problem,” she said, suggesting that the Michael Ricketts-led JFF, to some degree, has its hands tied.

“I need the parish associations to look at the women’s football seriously. The same way they can make sacrifices for the male programme at all levels, they need to make those sacrifices for the development of women’s football at the parish level. We should look seriously at the grassroots programme from Under-6, then we’re coming to the primary school.

“We just need to push the development more, and right into the high school, into the community, at the club level, so that we see the growth and the development starting from the grassroots. And so we have a foundation that we can just build on. So when we said we’re going out there, we’re going out there, not with any mediocre team, but because of our development programme,” she explained.

Former JFF President Tony James recently expressed disappointment that the current administration has not overseen structured football competitions for girls throughout the parishes. He said the women’s league, which has been under-funded, is also a major sore point.

“The JFF really don’t have the passion islandwide through the parish affiliates to run a proper youth programme. This is not even to mention the Premier League programme which is a misnomer in the way in which the JFF ran it last year, but it was the best attempt they could make with the kind of funding they had,” James said.

James also noted the huge void left behind by former senior Reggae Girlz head coaches Hue Menzies and Lorne Donaldson.

Menzies, who guided the team to the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France, left the job that same year.

Donaldson, who was one of Menzies’ assistants in France, was appointed head coach in 2022 and led the Girlz to the 2023 edition in Australia and New Zealand where they historically advanced to the knock-out stage. The JFF did not renew his contract when it ended last month.

“To run the successful and professional international women’s programme, you need both competent administrative and technical direction. Jamaica had the best team in the women’s programme, a combination of Hue Menzie as administrator and technical director, and Lorne Donaldson as the tactician and coach implementing the programme.

“Both were Jamaicans, both were actively involved in the United States’ youth and clubs programmes which, if not the best in world, are definitely in the top five in terms of structure, financing, and international results, especially the development structure.

“Few people except the Girlz realised how much Hue Menzie and Lorne Donaldson have put into that programme in terms of resources and support to the Girlz including their education and their natural well-being,” James had shared with the Observer.

Walker-Brown, who has been involved with the women’s football programme since 1991 and served as president of the Jamaica Women’s Football Association, said voluntary contributions are also an important part of the development.

“I have been doing this all these years voluntarily and I’m quite satisfied. It’s not a paid job but if you really love the sport and want to help with community and country development, this is one avenue that you can look into and make your contribution.

“We can use this as a tool to send off our young ladies to university and make them develop themselves… [and] help them in reaching their goals through football,” she said.

“A lot of persons see me and think I have money or I’m gaining a lot. It’s just the love of the sport. And it does achieve benefits…although you don’t get a paycheck,” Walker-Brown added.