U20 women begin final-leg preparation

Jamaica's Under-20 women's football team will begin their journey for qualification for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2012, with the Caribbean first-round qualifiers, which will be held in Havana, Cuba, from October 21-25.

The junior Reggae Girls are drawn in Group A and will play their first game against St Lucia on October 23, before engaging the hosts in the return two days later.

The winner and runners-up from the group will qualify for the finals of Caribbean qualifying, which will constitute two groups of four. The winners of these two groups, plus the best runner-up (a total of three teams), will qualify from the Caribbean to the CONCACAF round. The regional finals is set for December 5-12.

In preparation for the Cuba leg, national coordinator for women's teams, Vin Blaine, summoned the players to a training camp that begun yesterday and will end when the squad leaves the island on Friday, October 21.

The squad includes three members of the national Under-17 team, which has already qualified for the second round of the regional qualifiers. They are Nicole Broderick, Khadija Shaw and Shantel Bailey.

The team also includes five overseas-based players, who will be representing Jamaica for the first time. They are Shanyce Shaw, Marlo Sweatman, Garrian McKenzie, Lindsay Wong and Toriana Patterson.

The team begins training at Stadium East today and will practice there each day at 7a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

They are scheduled to play a practice game against a Barbican select team, coached by 2011 Sherwin Williams winning coach Charles Edwards, on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Waterhouse Mini Stadium.

The other members of the squad are Khedine Salmon, Nicole Broderick, Kalicia Walker, Sasalee Cooper, Shenika Williams, Renee Freeman, Sharika Ingram, Kedisha Cardoza, Trudi Carter, Mellissa Bryan, Khadija Shaw and Latoya Duhaney.