‘It’s a great opportunity!’
Busby calls on full stakeholder backing as Girlz hope to make best of new Concacaf competition platform
Even before the buzz of the news has fizzled, Hubert Busby has challenged local stakeholders to upscale support of the programme if new opportunities in the women’s game are to be maximised.
The Reggae Girlz coach made the call in reacting to Thursday’s announcement by Concacaf of a “progressive” and transformative competition platform. The move by the confederation is said to be in keeping with its Concacaf-w pillar, the philosophy that drives the development of the women’s game across its sub-continental survey — North and Central America and the Caribbean.
At the heart of the structure is a new senior women’s national team calendar which will begin in 2021 and include major centralised summer tournaments in 2022 and 2024.
According to Concacaf, the new calendar prioritises providing more official match dates for all Concacaf women’s senior national teams and ensuring there is “elite competition to showcase the highest level of women’s international football”.
Through this new calendar, Concacaf will more than double the number of official senior women’s national team matches compared with the existing cycle of competitions.
But before a ball is kicked, Busby has warned that Jamaica would not be able to make the best of the emerging opportunities without the full backing of all its stakeholders, including the governing Jamaica Football Federation (JFF).
“With the launch of the new women’s ‘Nations League’ it is obvious that we are going to need a concerted effort to improve upon the funding of the women’s programme to make sure that we are not only competitive in the region, but to have a competitive and sustainable programme for years to come.
“That is going to be a collective effort from the federation, government and corporate Jamaica. I think everyone is going to have to rally around all teams if we as Jamaicans want continued and consistent success at the world level.
There must also be the structure in place to support long-term success as well.
“Again, I think it is a great opportunity for us to grow football in the region and Jamaica, but it will definitely require some financial assistance and planning to make sure the programme is sustainable over a longer period of time,” argued the former Jamaica goalkeeper.
Busby, an assistant to Head Coach Hue Menzies in Jamaica’s historic qualification to the Fifa Women’s World Cup of France 2019, says Concacaf’s new focus will allow for long-term technical planning.
“From a technical perspective, it is important for us to utilise these games as an opportunity to continue to grow, improve, look at players and to matriculate players through the levels, so that when we get to World Cup qualifiers, we would have been prepared having had a number of suitable games heading into the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, which will be crucial,” he said.
The next Fifa Women’s World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2023.
Busby, a Canadian national with Jamaican roots, thinks new competitions involving all 41-member associations of Concacaf is a masterstroke.
“Having all 41 member associations of Concacaf competing, the women’s ‘League of Nations’ will again [serve] the women’s game and those countries that have not had the opportunity to have as many friendlies, or matches, other than qualifiers.
“This is another great opportunity for them to build on their own programmes, and I am very excited to see that taking place.
“Overall, the more games we play, there will more opportunities for players and more development taking place, the more the game grows, and ultimately, the stronger we [in Concacaf] become,” Busby said.
Meanwhile, Reggae Girlz goalkeeper and team veteran Nicole Mcclure, while raising the proverbial toast to Concacaf, tasked the JFF to step up its game.
“I think this is the best news out of Concacaf as of late. This new structure is monumental. This is the investment needed to strengthen football in our region and I’m extremely proud of Concacaf for doing this.
“Firstly, the federation needs to stop ignoring the women’s programme. We need training camps and friendly matches to evaluate our players. We need this to happen in a timely fashion, so we are well prepared to perform at the highest level on the international stage,” she noted.
It is widely viewed that the smallest members of Concacaf stand to benefit the most from the upsizing of Concaaf women’s agenda.
No wonder, excitement at the prospects is sweeping the tiny islands of the Caribbean in particular, the US Virgin Islands among them.
“The ecosystem of football in the country will grow as more people would become more devoted to women’s football.
“Firstly, the demand of players and families committed to women’s soccer will increase exponentially. Then, more development programmes must be created to satisfy the demands of players and families.
“Next, the programmes will have to be supplied with an abundance of professionals — coaches, managers, doctors, trainers, among others,” said general secretary of the US Virgin Islands Football Association Lishati Bailey.
He said if the profile of the women’s game is increased with the new senior competitions, which is expected to mirror the men’s Nations League in some form or shape, then perhaps corporate support may be stirred to get on board.
“As the demographic grows and as soccer activity increases, the more businesses want to invest in women’s soccer,” Bailey told the Observer by telephone.
Even as the main tournament under the new portfolio of competitions is already unofficially being called the “Women’s Nations League”, Concacaf is yet to reveal names and brands and is expected to do so next year.
The new competitions will seed teams on a ranking system, plus will directly impact the qualification process for World Cup and Olympic tournaments.