Reinas Academy partners with Real Mona for JWPL season
Published:Saturday | November 8, 2025 | 12:08 AMGregory Bryce/Staff Reporter
Neo Oxford, founder of Reinas Academy, said they have partnered with Real Mona FC and will compete in the upcoming Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) season.
Reinas stands as one of the premier women’s football academies in Jamaica, and Oxford said the next step for the academy was to compete in the local league.
“What’s next for us is that we’re heading to the Premier League,” Oxford told The Gleaner.
“People have been asking us and we’re here to show that we can go against the top-flight players in the country.”
He continued, “We’re getting ready, we’re in training and we’re preparing for the season that is to come, and we hope to have a good one.”
Oxford said the academy has joined an unofficial partnership with Real Mona where players from Reinas will compete in the JWPL under Real Mona’s banner.
He explained the decision was made because of his and the academy’s longstanding relationship with the St Andrew-based club.
This will not be the first time the academy has partnered with Real Mona, where the club previously made it to the quarter-finals in 2019.
“I’ve been a member of Real Mona since I’ve been about 14 years old and I’ve spent most of my football life there and that’s where I called home,” Oxford explained.
“We’ve actually played in the Premier League as Real Mona before, where we made history with the youngest team ever and we reached the quarter-final stages,” he continued.
“We’ll be coming with a young team again, so it is the Reinas unit coming into the league under the banner of Real Mona. Let’s just say that Reinas is a part of Real Mona and Real Mona is a part of Reinas. Everyone is one big family.”
HERE TO COMPETE
Used to success in youth football, Oxford is aware it will be a completely new learning curve for his players in the JWPL.
Although confident his players can one day lift the JWPL title, he believes their first season will be to test their mettle before they set any ambitions on competing as title contenders.
“To be honest, we are now here and we don’t just enter things to just enter,” he said.
“Real Mona’s motto is ‘Strength and Honour’ and Reinas’ motto is ‘Never Defeated’. So, if you put those two together, then you understand we’re here on a mission.
“Of course, we think we can win but the first year is really to see how far we can go, and then we reassess the situation and decide if we’re going to enter the year after that.”
Oxford said one of the leading reasons behind their decision to return to the JWPL has been the improvement in the league’s operations.
The JWPL underwent a major rebrand last year, which also led to the formation of the Professional Women’s Football Jamaica Limited (PWFJL), aimed at commercialising the league.
“We watched the league last year and realised that the league has come a far way in how it is been organised and structured, and the only way to get the girls better is to play.”