Toronto ’keeper a Jamaican inspiration
World Cup breakthrough by ‘pioneer’ Reggae Girlz gives Jamieson hope
Frisco, Texas — in the DallasFort Worth area — was under flash-flood watch last month when the Canadian, American, Jamaican and Panamanian soccer teams gathered for the CONCACAF Women’s Championship semifinals.
Goalkeeper Yazmeen Jamieson and her Jamaican teammates were unprepared. They didn’t have personalized team gear like the Canadians and Americans did. Jamaica’s coaching staff made a trip to a local Costco and bought jackets and mitts in bulk — out of their own pockets — to deal with the unexpectedly nasty weather. There were no Jamaican crests on the raincoats, but the players were appreciative, just like they were for the nameless uniforms they played in — second-hand jerseys because of a lack of funding.
“As much as sometimes I’m like, ‘I wish we had the funds because we deserve this, we’re playing professionally, it’s embarrassing,’ we still deal with it because we’re the pioneers,” Jamieson said. “We’re going to have to go through this so that the future generation doesn’t have to go through it.”
Jamieson has seen firsthand the positive impact women’s soccer can have on a country.
The 19-year-old goalkeeper, part of the first Jamaican squad to seal a FIFA World Cup berth by finishing third in Texas, is from Toronto. Growing up, she played with the Unionville Milliken Soccer Club. Today, she represents Ottawa’s Carleton University at the varsity level and, like many girls, has looked up to Christine Sinclair, Kadeisha Buchanan and other women who put soccer on the map in Canada.
Now, she want to be a similar role model for women in Jamaica.
“It’s not just about the sport,” Jamieson said. “Soccer can get you an education. Soccer can get you publicity for anything you want to do in life. I want people to understand that women’s soccer is very important to the development of females in the Caribbean.”
The daughter of a Jamaican father and Grenadian mother says she’s always been in touch with her roots. She also associated food, music and family with her culture, but it wasn’t until an unexpected tryout with the Reggae Girlz — while visiting Jamaica with her club team in 2013, when she was15 — that Jamieson made the soccer connection.
At that point, Jamaica’s women’s team didn’t officially exist. It folded in 2010 because of a lack of funding, but was brought back in 2014 by Cedella Marley, daughter of musician Bob Marley, who has sponsored the team ever since through the Bob Marley Foundation.
Jamieson made the team, but the long process of getting her Jamaican citizenship kept her from playing right away. Two years ago, she tried out for the under-20 team. Less than a year and a half later, she was playing for the senior team and vying for a spot at the Women’s World Cup.
Jamaica played Canada in the CONCACAF tournament opener, a 2-0 Canadian win. Jamieson has never been involved with Canada’s national program, but remembers getting emotional during “O Canada.”
“It was surreal, because I was like, ‘I’m here, right now,’ ” she said. “I never thought that this would ever happen. It was never really a realistic dream for me, so to be on that platform with (the Canadians), to shake their hand after the game, to be equals … that was amazing.”
Jamieson isn’t the only Canadian involved with the Jamaican squad. Hubert Busby, also from Toronto, volunteers as the goalkeeping coach. In Jamieson, he says he sees a netminder with lots of upside and a goal of unseating No. 1 Sydney Schneider. Busby also sees a team player with a great work ethic.
“Whether you’re born in Toronto or born in New York or born in Kingston, Jamaica, there’s a unique culture about Jamaicans that is quite profound,” Busby said.