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JAMAICA’S YOUNG Reggae Girlz will begin their Concacaf Under-20 Women’s Championship without their most experienced player, Jody Brown.
Still, the U20 Girlz boast a strong squad which leaves the island for the Dominican Republic in two days’ time.
According to a release, head coach Xavier Gilbert has picked a squad with massive experience, despite the absence of Brown, who is part of the senior squad.
The senior squad played its first two games of their World Cup-qualifying campaign, beating Bermuda 4-1 in an opener at the National Stadium in Kingston last week, before romping to a 6-1 win over Grenada in the Spice Island on Sunday.
Gilbert made the announcement yesterday about the team, one of four in Group H of the championships used to pick the three teams that qualify to the 2022 U20 World Cup in Costa Rica later this year.
Jamaica and Guatemala will be joined by Cuba and Haiti.
In the Jamaican team are 15 players based in North America, and there are five local-based players in Shaneil Buckley, Daihla Whyte, Andrene Smith, Davia Richards and Javanae Jones. Notably, Nevillegail Able, Christina Salmon and Shania Harris excelled locally and are now in college in the United States.
Nine of the players have represented Jamaica in the past at the under-17 or under-20 age-group levels, while four have been representing the country from theunder-15 stage.
The Concacaf Women’s U20 Championships will be disputed in two rounds, beginning with a 16-team group stage.
After round-robin play, the top three teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage (joining the four best teams from their respective qualifiers). The knockout stage of the competitions (round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, third-place match and final) will all be played in a single-match, direct-elimination format.
Bermuda (Group A), Cayman Islands (Group B), Curacao (Group C) and Suriname (Group D) were the group winners that qualified directly for the 2022 CW U20 round of 16 via the qualifying tournament.
Jamaica will play Cuba on February 28 and Haiti on March 2.
At the conclusion of the event, the champion, runner-up and third-place finisher will qualify for the 2022 FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup in Costa Rica from August 10-28, 2022.
The three teams from the region that would have qualified for the Women’s Under-20 World Cup will join host nation Costa Rica, giving Concacaf four participating teams in the tournament.
The United States are the current champions of the CWU20 after defeating Mexico 4-1 in the 2020 final.
U20 Reggae Girlz Squad:
Maliah Atkins, Alexiah Spencer, Peyton McNamara, Shaneil Buckley, Nevillegail Able, Daihlia Whyte, Andrene Smith, Zoe Vidaurre, Christina Salmon, Chantelle Parker, Anabel Moore, Kameron Simmonds, Mia Mitchell, Davia Richards, Serena Mensah, Liya Brooks, Shania Harris, Theanna Burnett, Javanae Jones.
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