Khadija ‘’Bunny” Shaw, the senior Reggae Girlz captain, has expressed profound gratitude and admiration for Cedella Marley’s unbelievable contributions to girls’s soccer in Jamaica.
In a heartfelt tribute posted on Saturday, Shaw praised Marley’s unwavering dedication over the previous decade, which has performed a pivotal function in establishing a thriving girls’s soccer program within the nation.
Marley, who served because the World Ambassador for Jamaica’s girls’s soccer program, not too long ago introduced her resignation. She cited the present scenario involving the senior Reggae Girlz World Cup staff and the Jamaica Soccer Federation (JFF) as the rationale for her departure. Marley expressed disappointment within the federation’s lack of receptiveness to her type of help, resulting in her rapid resignation.
Marley’s relentless help
Shaw, who has risen from humble beginnings to get pleasure from a profitable skilled profession at Ladies’s Tremendous League (WSL) membership Manchester Metropolis, paid tribute to Marley for giving her and different younger ladies the assumption to pursue their desires.
In her heartfelt message, Shaw acknowledged Marley’s relentless help by way of the years, highlighting her tenacity in elevating funds for the Reggae Girlz. Marley’s efforts led to consecutive FIFA Ladies’s World Cup appearances in 2019 and 2023 for the Jamaican nationwide staff, making historical past for the nation.
Shaw recalled a difficult interval when the JFF had lower the ladies’s soccer program as a result of an absence of funding, leading to over three years of inactivity and removing from the FIFA Ladies’s World Rankings. Nonetheless, Marley’s intervention in 2014 breathed new life into this system, permitting the Reggae Girlz to succeed in new heights.
Phrases of dedication
In her tribute, Shaw quoted Marley’s phrases of dedication: “They stated y’all couldn’t, and I stated inform me why. After they stated y’all wouldn’t, I stated watch me.” She praised Marley’s dedication and willingness to offer alternatives for younger ladies to characterize Jamaica on the highest degree, resulting in the staff’s spectacular FIFA rating of 40.
Regardless of her resignation from the function of World Ambassador, Marley has pledged to proceed supporting the Reggae Girlz’ journey by way of the Soccer is Freedom initiative. The Bob and Rita Marley Basis has additionally severed ties with the Jamaica Soccer Federation because it reassesses its priorities.
Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw’s heartfelt tribute serves as a testomony to Cedella Marley’s enduring legacy and her invaluable contributions to girls’s soccer in Jamaica.
