Busby Jr pleased with promise Young Girlz show

Despite their failure to qualify for the Under-20 Women's World Cup, coach Hubert Busby Jr says that he is thrilled at the future development of the group.

The young Reggae Girlz were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Concacaf Women's Championship, losing to host nation the Dominican Republic. They would go on to lose to eventual winners the United States in the semi-finals, securing their place in the tournament as well as Mexico. The World Cup was scheduled to take place in Costa Rica and Panama in August but was postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Busby, who has been in isolation in the United States, has managed to use the time to review games from the tournament, and believes that the team performed above his initial expectations.

"I think in some aspects, I saw things in players that I am happy with, some things that I wasn't happy with," Busby told STAR Sports. "But then upon reflection, watching them again, I've said hey, you know what? They have done a lot better than I thought originally. More important, [I'm] really excited about what the future looks like."

Goalscoring effort

Striker and team captain Jody Brown led Jamaica with nine goals in the campaign, while Lacey Murray, Chantelle Parker, Marlee Fray, Sydoney Clarke and Nevillegail Able also contributed to the goalscoring effort.

In ensuring that the players continue progression, Busby believes that they need to facilitate a programme for those who are not ready for the senior squad but have outgrown the under-20 group, so as not to stunt their technical growth.

"I think the key again is what do we do with these kids that are in-between, not quite ready for the seniors but have aged out for the 20s. The 20-year-olds this year, what are we doing this year with those kids?" he said. "Because there is a huge pool of players that have come through our under-20s who are 21, 22, [but are] not quite ready for the senior team. We haven't had enough camps and the only times we get together are for qualifiers."

He has stressed the importance of being able to have a large talent pool of players that will be ready to make an impact at the senior level. "The best countries in the world have a humongous pool of players. And until we get to the point where we have about 40 quality international senior players, we are going to keep struggling," he said.