Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer
Jamaica female football coach, Charles Edwards. - File
Charles Edwards, the coach of Jamaica's senior women's football team, says he was very pleased with the level of maturity shown by the Reggae Girlz during the three-week tour of Brazil.
"I think the performances were great and adaptation to everything was pretty good," said Edwards when the team returned to the island on Thursday.
"There were situations where it was pretty tough for them and not one bit of complain came out of them, this after we explained what is what to them. They just went about their task in a professional manner."
The Reggae Girlz, who used the camp to enhance their preparation for next month's Olympic qualifiers in Mexico where they are drawn in Group A alongside the hosts and the United States, recorded two victories and two losses, with their biggest win being a 5-1 triumph over a Rio Claro select team.
Group B includes Canada, Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago. The top two finishers from each group will move on to the semi-finals, with the finalists qualifying for Beijing 2008.
Despite the results, Edwards noted the they achieved some major targets.
"We were not only using this tour to look at the Olympic qualifiers, but also the growth of the female team in Jamaica getting to the standard of the likes of Mexico, United States and Canada because this is what we need to set our sights on for the future," he said.
Remain positive
"Once we remain in a positive manner, I think we will perform pretty well in the Olympic qualifiers," said Edwards.
Edwards also pointed out that this camp, which is the first for a Jamaica female team, is an exceptional start and a lot of the girls were really excited and handled the different challenges well.
"I am definitely pleased with the performances by the girls down here because my objective was not to look at results and I think down the road we will do well if we get in more camps and more training from these Brazilian coaches because they did an exceptional job in Brazil and I am very happy," Edwards explained.
