Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
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( L - R ) REID AND BOXHILL
SOME BROUGHT balloons, flags, roses and whistles. Others, just about anything with a bit of gold or green as they made welcome the Under-20 Reggae Girlz at the Norman Manley International Airport on Saturday night.
The Girlz were returning from Mexico where they placed fourth in the FIFA Under-20 World Championship qualifiers.
The reception was a babe compared to those the Reggae Boyz got whenever they performed well abroad, but its warmth matched or outdid what their male counterparts have ever received in recent years.
"Di Girlz dem gwaan good, mi love dat," shouted a man while waving the Jamaican flag frantically. Others in the arrival gallery at the airport spoke loudly of having a relative or family member on the team and expressed the view that more of the country's money should go towards female sports.
In the midst of the celebration though, some spectators openly voiced their displeasure of not seeing the Minister of Sports, Portia Simpson Miller, or a government representative on hand to receive the Girlz.
President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Crenston Boxhill, who had been in Mexico with the team, said he believes "the Girlz would have loved" to be welcomed that way. Similarly, one young female commented that if the team had qualified for Russia, "tomorrow would have been a public holiday".
After finishing second to the USA in group B, Jamaica's hopes of getting to Russia rested in them beating Canada in the semio-final or in the fourth place play-off against hosts Mexico.
Unfortunately, Jamaica lost 2-1 to Canada before falling 4-1 to Mexico in the do-or-die fixture.
"We went with great expectations but it was always going to be a big ask," said the team's head coach, Vin Blaine. "The game that I think that crushed us was the Canada game. We had that game in the bag but we made a couple mistakes and we paid dearly."
Blaine was not a totally disappointed man but some of his charges had difficulty controlling their emotions upon arrival.
Ace goalscorer Venecia Reid, who hit a hat-trick against Suriname, was not teary-eyed but could not hide her disappointment.
"To place fourth I am not happy with that. I think we should have placed second or third but we can't fight it. The nation is happy with it so we can't get down ourselves even more," said Reid.
She won't be around in 2008 for the next Under-20 championship, but Blaine says about 10 players who were in Mexico will be eligible for the next campaign.
" I plan to work with these young ladies... find a way to keep them together for the Under-20 and also go out there and look for more talent. From my experience I know what we have to do now and I have no doubt that they will continue doing well," Blaine said.
"The reason I really wanted to qualify is that qualifying would give us the momentum and also some international games. If we were exposed to a couple of international games, I know we would have qualified for Russia."
Despite not making the cut, both Blaine and Boxhill were happy to have left the championships with heads held high.
Boxhill said: "The Girlz should be commended highly. They stood in adverse conditions and they did well. It certainly caught the nation by surprise."
