Reinas Cup showdown at Hughenden
Published:Saturday | August 5, 2023 | 12:08 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
The ISSA Construction Reinas Cup under-20 women’s football competition is set to come to an exciting climax today with the final between Reinas Academy and Kingston Football Academy (KFA) at the Hughenden football field at 4 p.m.
In the third place match at 3 p.m. Ballaz Academy play outgoing champions Next Generation Academy.
Competition organiser Neo Oxford said the tournament which is the first of its kind in Jamaica and is providing opportunities for young female footballers to continue their development.
“The Reinas Cup is simply about giving young girls the opportunity. Everyone now seems to be saying, the Reggae Girlz, the Reggae Girlz, but what about the local girls.
“Last year from the Reinas Cup, 12 girls left to college overseas and this year we have eleven,” he pointed out.
The competition, which has seven teams from five parishes, including Portland, St Thomas, Kingston, St Catherine and Manchester, is in its second season and has been receiving huge turnouts at match venues, with games also being streamed live online on MG Sports TV and Oxford said he is already getting requests for participation next season.
“The Reinas Cup has been on the lips of many this summer, from a brilliant turn-out on opening day, to heavy turn-outs at Royal Lakes in St Catherine and in Portland. I’m expecting a good turn-out for the final day. It will be an exciting way to bring the curtains down,” he said.
“I am already being bombarded with teams asking to enter the ISSA Construction Reinas Cup. The growth has been massive and we are slowly becoming islandwide and reaching our objective,” said Oxford.
KFA, last year’s beaten finalists, come into today’s final as favourites against first-time finalists Reinas Academy.
KFA are yet to lose a game this season and will be depending on Tiny Seaton and Akelia Johnson to carry them to the title. Both have scored six goals.
Reinas Academy’s only defeat of the season came at the hands of KFA, a 1-0 loss on opening day, Reinas will no doubt be seeking revenge and will look to the competition’s leading scorer Olivia Ashbourne (nine goals ) and Shanieka Young (six) to upset the odds and take home the trophy.
“We had a total of 50 games in this year’s tournament. These games were streamed across the globe so that coaches were able to watch live and see the talent here in Jamaica,” Oxford added.