Hubert Busby, head coach of Jamaica’s senior women’s football team, is eagerly anticipating the friendly match against France, citing it as a crucial benchmark as the team prepares for the World Cup qualifiers which start next year.

The Reggae Girlz, who faced Brazil twice in mid-year, are scheduled to play away to number 10-ranked France on October 25 at the Stade Auguste-Bonal. Next the 42nd-ranked Reggae Girlz are set to host 50th-ranked South Africa on November 29 and December 2.

“We’re looking forward to this match versus France,” Busby stated during Friday’s virtual squad unveiling via Zoom.

“Since the last time we got together in Brazil [from] May into June, the players have kind of settled into their clubs. It’s been an extended break due to the Olympics. [The] last time got together, a lot of the players were coming off or just coming off a vacation and coming back to get ready to play,” Busby added.

The Girlz will be without Manchester City striker Khadija “Bunny” Shaw and defender Konya Plummer for the clash against France. Busby said there are currently issues with both players’ travel documents.

Given the absent players, Busby sees this as a chance for the four newcomers to shine — Taylor Hinds, Lulu Jarvis, Reanna Blades, and Natasha Thomas.

“We’d spoken to Taylor Hinds a few years ago and we’re glad that she’s in our squad to come in and embed within what we’re trying to do. Lulu Jarvis is another young player that we’ve been monitoring; she just made a move from Brighton to Plymouth. At 20 years of age, she’s another up-and-coming player.

“The same with Reanna Blades, who was on the books of Chelsea but just moved to Burnley. Natasha Thomas is someone who has kind of reached out. We’ve been monitoring her well, so we’re looking to bring her in and see how she fits in,” Busby said.

This highly anticipated clash is a rematch of their 2023 World Cup group stage encounter in Australia, where the Reggae Girlz secured a historic nil-all draw against the fancied French side. That memorable result earned Jamaica their first-ever point at a World Cup.

Busby explained that the strategy is to match wits against top-ranked opponents to ensure the team is well-tested in the build-up to the World Cup qualifiers.

“As we kind of set up this chart of this course in terms of how we’re going to get to this World Cup, one of the things that we really wanted to do is ensure that we are deliberate in the games that we’re playing and trying to play as many top 10, top 20 opponents as possible.

“This is to ensure that we are tested heading into World Cup qualifiers and arguably, you know, one of the top confederations in the world when it comes to women’s football. So a lot of work has been gone into it, and obviously we’re looking forward to this camp and looking forward to taking a look at some players and embedding some, even some new staff into the programme as well. So I’ll kind of touch base on that a little bit later on in our discussion here,” Busby said.

Busby also introduced two new additions to the Reggae Girlz staff.

Renee Balconi, the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and high performance coach, brings experience from the Houston Dash and Louisiana State University (LSU).

The other is former Reggae Boyz striker Deon Burton, who is set to work with the forwards in the capacity of assistant coach. Xavier Gilbert remains one of the assistant coaches.

“I’ve known Renee [Balconi] for years when she’s worked at LSU on staff there with the woman’s side with my wife, so I know her very well. And we’re really pleased to have her involved with the programme. And like I said, she’s working in a professional woman’s environment, so she’ll be joining us for this camp,” Busby explained.

“As you can see, we’ve got an incredibly talented group led by one of the best strikers [Shaw] in the world at the moment.

“He’s there [in the United Kingdom] as well, which is a big bonus for us, because it gets Deon to go and see some of the games [involving Reggae Girlz players] in person when he can, when he’s not coaching with the U-21s at West Bromwich Albion. So we’re excited to bring him on board and all his expertise, and of course, he’s so excited to be back and giving back to the country that’s given him so much as well,” said Busby, who added that goalkeeper coach Andrew Sewell and Sanford Carabin are also part of the technical team.

SQUAD

Goalkeepers – Rebecca Spencer and Syndney Scheider.

Defenders – Chantelle Swaby, Allyson Sway, Taylor Hinds, Deneisha Blackwood, Vyan Sampson, and Maliah Atkins

Midfielders – Lulu Jarvis, Atlanta Primus, Jade Bailey, Drew Spence, Sade Adamolekun, and Reanna Blades

Forwards – Natasha Thomas, Paige Bailey-Gayle, Kayla McKenna, Jody Brown, Shania Hayles, Tiffany Cameron, Davia Richards, and Mikayla Dayes