JAMAICA Football Federation (JFF) Projects Committee Chairperson for Women’s Programmes Carlene Edwards says increasing female representation in administrative roles will be a key focus as the JFF look to advance the women’s game locally.

The JFF, in partnership with FIFA and the Professional Women’s Football Jamaica Limited (PWFJL), officially launched their Women’s Strategic Plan recently, which outlines several key objectives to be achieved by 2031.

While an increase in professional players and coaches are two main priorities in significantly growing the sport, Edwards told the Jamaica Observer that bringing more women into football administration is vital.

Edwards, along with JFF vice-president Elaine Walker-Brown, PWFJL chairperson Christina Hudson and Reggae Girlz team manager Crystal Walters are among the leading women in football administration locally, though women remain underrepresented in the field.

Former Reggae Girlz midfielder Marlo Sweatman .

“What I’ve experienced over the last two years that I’ve been involved directly, is that you have a lot of females that are really inside the game, playing the game currently, while some have retired, who really want to give back, but they don’t want to waste their effort,” said Edwards.

“They want to come into a system where there are persons driving the activities that need to be done and I believe on the Jamaica Women’s Premier League side, we try our best to drive whatever programmes we’re putting together. So my recommendation to the JFF is that we now need to hire a head of women’s football, who can really own that strategy because I really don’t work with the JFF, but you really need someone, who can own the strategy — even if it requires us having that committee in place to ensure that it is executed.”

Former Reggae Girlz midfielder Marlo Sweatman, who was part of the historic 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad, says she and several of her compatriots are willing to support where necessary.

“I honestly don’t think there’s enough opportunities for players. I definitely think that we’re making progress, but there’s still a lot more that can be done. The former players have so much knowledge and experience and it’s something that we really need to help the next generation. Whether that’s coaching or administrative work or development, I think there needs to be a lot more structured opportunities for players,” said Sweatman, who retired last year.

EDWARDS… you have a lot of females that are really inside the game, playing the game currently, while some have retired, who really want to give back.

“Something I’ve recently been looking into is in the MLS and WNBA and NBA, they have certain jobs that are available to former players. There’s an easier pathway into, let’s say the corporate world, or a way to give back the knowledge they have. I think within certain federations and certain areas in football, especially for women, it’s not yet fully developed, so I think it is successful and I would love to see people be more involved,” she added.

Edwards says she wants to translate the growing interest among women into meaningful administrative and leadership roles within the sport.

“I believe at the league level, we are almost ready to help in whatever way possible to ensure that we execute on our programmes but there are several young ladies who we have met along the way who want to give back,” she said.

“One of my main commitments is to see how best we can identify some of those persons who want to give back so we can coach them up because myself and Christina will not be here forever but we need to ensure that there is transitioning taking place. So if we step away, there is another set of persons who are able to carry through what we’re now establishing. That’s one of my passions, to see how best we can really put together a cadre of women, put them in a pool and just let’s start working.”