The Caribbean & Central America thread

There was just one team from this area that qualified for WWC and it's Jamaica: I find interesting that the only Jamaican team in this top 10 is just at 8th place. This probably means that most of the Reggae Girls play overseas, in the USA?

What about Bailey, the Panamanian GK who impressed at recent CONCACAF qualifiers? Does she play for a local club?

 

Nice

 

Not sure I buy this "CAandCSoccer" organization that's put this rating out... There's no info on them, nor do they ever describe how they make these rankings. They *are* apparently based in Portmore, JAM, so I guess they're located in a good spot to make a Power Rankings, but beyond that, I don't know how much faith to put in this top 10. They at least post their Top 10 with some regularity, so you can watch how things change and why, but... IDK. How they compare across leagues seems pretty arbitrary to me except for use of the UNCAF Interclub Championship results as a baseline - which doesn't cover CFU clubs.

 

Hi BrittanyK - thanks for making the thread. Just to check (it's totally up to you)... Do you want the thread to be mostly about the Caribbean islands/CFU area, or the Caribbean + Central America?

 

By the way, if anyone hasn't heard Jamaica's Reggae Girlz song, you must go and praise it now

♫ Women's football & music/chants
- www.bigsoccer.com/posts/37381130/

 

↑ YOU MUST ↑ It rhymes the words 'sponges', 'lunges', 'fungus' and 'humongous'


HAITI had success in 2018 at U17 level in Concacaf, and looked promising at the U20 World Cup.

That's why there was political pressure to relaunch the Haitian women's league.

The league is now state-sponsored, so it's named the coupe du parlement, Parliament Cup. The 2018 league kicked off on 4 Oct, but very soon it was the coupe de Melchie Dumornay, as the Tigresses striker scored 7 times in 2 games. The second top scorer during the season was Sherly Jeudy of Anacaona SC.

Those two strikers met in the final - scheduled for 22 December, but very heavy traffic stopped Anacaona from reaching Port-au-Prince on the day. So, the match was rescheduled, check the date:

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Christmas is certainly not a normal day in Haiti!

So, the final went ahead that evening, and it was a real celebration for "Corventia", Melchie Dumornay, who scored an unbelievable 5 goals in Tigresses' win.

- www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26497-haiti-women-s-football-as-tigresses-crowned-champion-of-the-parliament-cup.html (Archived)

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There's more news on all Haitian women's soccer (in French) on Haiti Tempo.

Here were the 21 teams in that first parliament cup:

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Puerto Rico Sol aim is to join and play in NWSL in 2-3 years time.
They'll get a taste in April.

#nwsl v #FutFemPR 🇵🇷
@ana_futbolace @Lechus79 @WSUasa1 @JWsports1 @Lechus79 @WWFShow @BRAwnt17 @DeVanZeeland @chris_awk

Karish, Soccarras and Co are coming to face Orlando Pride pic.twitter.com/rOuNIf0hem

— Wosoworld (@karlyboy71) March 7, 2019

 

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Jamaica's coach Hue Menzies spoke to Tim Grainey about the team's World Cup qualifying success. We still don't realize quite how unexpected it was:

The interview is as good as ever on that site (I'll have to link there every week) and gives info on the Jamaican players, 11 at European clubs and 8 in the US. Menzies says he got his squad to play more regular football overseas.

Exclusive interview with Jamaica head coach Hue Menzies - https://www.tribalfootball.com/arti...w-with-jamaica-head-coach-hue-menzies-4273328


This was their recent 3-2 win, with two goals by Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw:

Highlights: REGGAE GIRLZ VS CHILE - MARCH 3
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7RGgMGRJBk


The Jamaican women's league had a 1-year hiatus, then it returned in July 2018, and the title was won by Waterhouse FC.

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A bit more about Puerto Rico:

(2018)

(a few weeks ago in Florida)

Here's an interview with the Sol coach, who is also the ex-Haiti coach:

The Week in Women's Football: Interview with Shek Borkowski
- https://www.tribalfootball.com/arti...eroon-headline-caf-olympic-qualifiers-4278195 (Archived)

Puerto Rico Sol Bench against Orlando Pride on April 7​

 

Martinique's most famous, Wendie Renard, wrote and spoke about her childhood there, and how she somehow ended up playing for Lyon:

Life at the End of the World, by Wendie Renard
- https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/wendie-renard-life-at-the-end-of-the-world (Archived)

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(Pierre-Yves Beaudouin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0)​

 

Great article: was a pleasure to read!

I hope someone else stops by here on the Caribbean thread to find it.

 

Heart-warming story about the Jamaican women's football program: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/31/reggae-girlz-jamaica-backed-by-cedella-marley-make-world-cup

 

Let's not forget Panama's part in Jamaica's story.. even if it was losing to them on penalties in such a dramatic way. Hopefully those countries will build a good rivalry and challenge each other in the future.

They met last week in Kingston:

(Match report on Loop / Archived)​

Then, the last World Cup warm-up
("Dear World Cup, please be as exciting as this game")

HIGHLIGHTS | Scotland 3-2 Jamaica
- youtube.com/watch?v=02WK2K-OBbM

There is so much goodwill for this team! People really love reggae. And an underdog story of course. Jamaica's still the lowest-ranked team in the Women's World Cup (53rd). I really hope they can get a point or two, but it'll be tough.

 

Ah, well.
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/matchday-3-c06-brazil-jamaica.2104296/
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/matchday-8-c18-jamaica-italy.2104429/
https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/matchday-12-c29-jamaica-australia.2104528/


Saint Lucia hosted a 4-team tournament with Grenada, St Vincent & the Grenadines, and Dominica – the Windward Islands WIFA women's senior tournament from July 2-6, 2019.

The winners were St Vincent & the Grenadines after the 3-game round robin, with a dramatic final day:
- https://thevoiceslu.com/2019/07/windward-islands-womens-football-clean-sweep-for-svg/ (Archived)

Their goalkeeper, Atticia Benn, was the tournament MVP.

(Photo Anthony De Beauville / HTS St Lucia)​

 

Our heroes will be back in action soon, or at least some of them, in the

Concacaf Olympic Qualifiers 2020
- https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/concacaf-olympic-qualifiers-2020-❂.2105526/

A sad and predictable story:

Jamaica WNT not paid [after the 2019 World Cup]
- https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/jamaica-wnt-not-paid.2106118/

Also predictable, but in a happy way, Khadija Shaw aced her French league debut match with 2 goals:

 

Concacaf U-17 Women's Championship 2020: In the qualifiers, Belize, Cayman Islands, Honduras and Guyana earned places in the finals. In an odd arrangement, they'll bypass the four groups and join in the last 16 round, the same format that the the U-20 Championship will have. Last time, the U17s of Haiti finished 4th.

I'll post more in that thread – today is apparently D-Day for possible coaching resignations.

 

Sad news out of Jamaica: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/01/tarania-clarke-stabbing-jamaica-reggae-girlz

 

Oh god... R.I.P.

By the Jamaica Football Federation - https://www.instagram.com/p/B4VDh0NjtZt/
"The JFF mourns the loss of Tarania Clarke who was injured and sadly passed away last night having succumbed to her injuries. We express our deepest condolences to her family and friends during this very challenging time. Jamaica's female football suffers a significant loss as she was a very talented player.
"#ReggaeGirlz Tarania ‘Plum Plum’ Clarke, Captain of Waterhouse FC, scored on debut for the Senior Reggae Girlz on September 30 in the 12-1 win over Cuba."

GOAL Jamaica, Tarania CLARKE #CU17W (2016)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILc8yi-z5nE

 

So sad. My thoughts & prayers to her family.

 

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The excellent Women's World Football Show mentions the tributes to Tarania Clarke - also to the Mexican midfielder Diana González, who died from illness the same week.

The new episode is about Jamaica's Chinyelu Asher, whose career has taken the US-born midfielder to Kazakhstan, Colombia and, in 2019, Norway. Also discussing the recent troubles with "No Pay No Play":

"Women’s World Football Show, Episode 158 features an exclusive interview [@12 mins] with Jamaica Women’s National Team Midfielder Chinyelu Asher; and a special Concacaf report with Ana De Souza." - Host: Patty La Belle
http://www.wwfshow.com/2019/11/04/episode-158-chinyelu-asher-ana-de-souza/ (Archive)

... and knocking out Mexico, of course.
More about Panama:

I'll try to get more info on the league, which was credited with Panama's international success in 2018. The most successful club is Universitario, formerly Chorrillo FC, who've won or reached every recent final, including the 2018 Apertura below. It all looks very exciting, and they've got a clarinet that plays guitar riffs

Final del Torneo Apertura de la LFF 2018
www.youtube.com/watch?v=calCyMV605U