GIRLZ DEMAND RESPECT
Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girlz thought their qualification to a second-consecutive Fifa Women’s World would represent some semblance of a future in which they are taken seriously and treated with full respect.
But the days after they accomplished that historic feat, coupled with another third-place finish at the recently concluded Concacaf Women’s Championship in Mexico, proved that their battle for such change is far from over.
Long before their first World Cup appearance in France in 2019, the Girlz have been vocal about the respect they deserve, but hardly ever get.
As such, the belief was that their intense love for country and desire to succeed would have inevitably struck a chord with almost everyone, once they secured another berth to the holy grail of women’s football in Australia and New Zealand next year.
And that they did when they defeated Mexico 1-0 and Haiti 4-0 during the group stage to repeat the qualifying feat and later beat Costa Rica 1-0 in the third-place play-off. They had suffered a 0-5 loss to eventual winners United States during the group stage and a 0-3 defeat to Canada in the semi-finals.
However, instead of joining the Girlz in celebrating their empowerment, some saw it fit to throw racial jabs at striker Trudi Carter. This, goalkeeper Yazmeen Jamieson believes was yet another example of the low regard society holds for female athletes.
Jamieson, who revealed that she was also the subject of racial abuse prior to the qualifying tournament, recalled how the euphoria of their achievement was replaced by the unpleasant conversation.
“Immediately after the referee blew the whistle and we were all running on the field, I was holding back tears. It was, like, ‘okay, we can finally breathe’ because it’s been months of preparation and stress.
“Everyone on this team has a personal story or journey and you could see that in their reactions on the field in that moment. It made me proud of every single person for making it this far,” she recollected.
“Trudi was my roommate and when she showed me the message, at first I was shocked, and then we both laughed. I laughed because I experienced a racial slur from a fan during a match in Canada right before I came to camp with Jamaica. It is sad to say that we are so used to racism that in order to protect our own mental health and happiness, we just have to laugh,” Jamieson told the Jamaica Observer from her base in Canada.
“But I knew it was affecting her deeper than she wanted to admit and this is what happens to many of us as athletes. You don’t want to dim the light of our World Cup success with such negative news, so we suffer in silence. But as we sat in the room, I encouraged her to make a statement, because you never know who it could help. I told her she shouldn’t have to sit here hurt and feel like she can’t speak out,” she added.
Still, Jamieson is aware that much like it is in the rest of society, the sport world rests firmly on a simple fact, that most women in sports take a back seat to their male counterparts.
While their male counterparts also face racism at times, she argued that women oftentimes receive far less media coverage, financial backing and, by extension, love and respect from fans.
“Racial abuse in football is not new to any of us on the Reggae Girlz [team]. Just a few months ago Paige [Bailey-Gayle] had to make a statement about a racial slur directed towards her during her match in England.
“So every single one of us has a story about racial abuse, but the issue is that black people, black women, black athletes, don’t get accolades for standing up against injustice; we are usually punished. This is why so many of us are afraid to speak out. I am beyond proud of Trudi for speaking out,” Jamieson shared.
That said, Jamieson like others, challenged the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) and corporate Jamaica to put their money where their mouths are, as they demand changes to the way they are treated when it comes to funding.
The Girlz are no longer shy about speaking truth to power. They, like Head Coach Lorne Donaldson, are insistent on the value of progress and are firm in their stance that they deserve to be celebrated with adequate financial support and preparation leading up to the World Cup and beyond.
They are also set to face Canada again in a two-way Olympic Games play-in tie in September next year for a spot at the 2024 Paris showpiece.
Much like others did before, Jamieson pointed out that the hard work and sacrifice made by the players will never truly be understood by those standing on the outside looking in. Even as they overcame the odds to ensure Brand Jamaica will again be represented on the biggest stage in women’s football.
“I believe that it is easy to say congratulations to us on social media, take photos with us, and say you are proud. But the true respect comes from the institutional support that will lead to our success: Funding, camps, organisation and leadership, among other things.
“Time and time again we [the Girlz] have said that society, Jamaica, the world, doesn’t know half of what we have to overcome behind the scenes. At the end of the day, we have always had to make up for the lack of support with our love for our country by pushing through the financial hardships and lack of camps,” Jamieson stated.
JFF President Michael Ricketts promised that his administration will be doing everything in its power to ensure that all seven Fifa windows are used to ensure sufficient practice games and camps, but for Jamieson that is left to be seen.
“We always come together as a family because we want Jamaica to do well, so we always do everything we can to make the best of our situations even when it’s not positive. I hope and pray that this changes in the near future because I want to us to finally be able to just focus on football,” the outspoken player noted.
“So we are just begging for the basics. That means camps in every window, more international friendlies, proper financial support for the players and staff, proper training gear and sponsorships. We have made it to our second-consecutive World Cup while being robbed of the basics; imagine what we can do with full support,” she ended.
Laura Jackson, who was a part of the Reggae Girlz programme ahead of the 2019 World Cup, believes this qualification was a statement of intent that they will no longer accept commonplace.
“The mistreatment, struggles and hypocrisy that this team has had to face over the last four years, makes this [World Cup qualifying] achievement even more amazing than those outside of the team can fathom. Every player, coach and staff member needs major respect put on their names,” Jackson boldly declared.
Meanwhile, Sashana “Pete” Campbell, who was in Mexico, but sat the tournament out due to injury, scoffed at the thought of their getting the respect they deserve, but is adamant that change must come.
Campbell, along with captain Khadija “Bunny” Shaw and Deneisha Blackwood were the players who suffered another travel foul-up at the hands of the JFF by way of a baggage mishap en route to Jamaica.
“As you can see it [issues with JFF] started the next day after we qualified, so it’s almost as if everything will remain the same. Each time we qualify it’s like we are going backwards instead of forward in terms of respect and changes. It’s like we have to sit around and wait to see if anything changes,” Campbell, who plies her trade in Poland, told the Observer.
“Changes have to start from within the federation. We went into a tournament with minimal preparation, which once again resulted from the federation’s mishandling and that needs to change.
“Travelling needs a whole lot of organisation. So I guess going forward before anything can change where the team is concerned, the entire handling of football in Jamaica needs to change,” she ended.