Oxford pleased with bid to improve young girls’ football
Published:Sunday | December 31, 2023 | 12:11 AMLivingston Scott - Gleaner Writer
REINAS ACADEMY and Glenmuir High School captured the Reinas Shield and Armor titles with victory over Ballaz Academy and St Jago High School, respectively, at the Hughenden Community Centre recently.
In the Reinas Shield final, Reinas Academy got the better of Ballaz in a repeat of last year’s inaugural final.
Tyesha Nelson scored the game’s only goal, slamming home a free kick to help Reinas retain their title.
Reinas Academy defeated St Andrew Technical 6-0 in the semifinals, while Ballaz were 2-0 winners over Proven.
Meanwhile, in the Armor title final, Glenmuir stopped St Jago 1-0 on penalties after the team battled to a 0-0 draw.
St Jago defeated Merl Grove 4-0 to earn their place in the final, while Glenmuir were 2-0 winners over Campion.
Reinas Academy also dominated the individual awards, with Olivia Ashbourne (nine goals) taking the leading goalscorer. Shanekia Young, who had seven clean sheets from seven games, was the top goalkeeper and Nelson, who scored eight goals, was the tournament’s MVP.
Competition organiser, Neo Oxford, said the tournament continues to be a great source of development and exposure for young female footballers.
“This competition sums up our year of development for female football in the country. When you look at the registration sheets of some of the teams, girls 10, 11 and 12 show that moves are being made,” he said.
“The top teams challenge for the Shield and the teams who are in the building phase play for the Armor. We had nine teams from across the country participating.
“Some are playing competitive football for the first time, seeing the coaches wanting to win but also being patient, and emphasising the fundamentals is the reason I founded Reinas to open doors for girls to start at earlier ages.”
The competition was sponsored by ISSA Construction along with Coldwell Banker Realty, Soccer Express, Sports of Jamaica, Yardie Sports, MG Sports and Through My Lens Images.
“This is the second staging and in the Shield, we had a repeat of last year’s final and the same result. But the joy was seeing Glenmuir, most of those girls playing in their first-ever competition and lifting the Armor title and seeing their joy and happiness.”