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Topsy-turvy travel arrangements for Reggae Girlz upset coaching staff

Report by RJRGLEANER Communications Group Sports Reporter Karen Madden

A major glitch in the travel arrangements for Jamaica's national senior women's team has resulted in near chaos as the Reggae Girlz departed Florida for their international friendly in Glasgow against Scotland. The Reggae Girlz were in Florida for a practice game against fc surge which they won 4-2 but the team was forced to get to Glasgow in roundabout fashion. Miami to Morroco to London then Glasgow was the circuitous route that the bulk of the Reggae Girlz had to undertake as they travelled to fulfil their obligation of a friendly international against Scotland at Hampden Park on May 28.

Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) vice president Bruce Gaynor, who is in charge of international travel confirmed that the team was forced to change the original flight plan of Miam-London-Glasgow. Gaynor also shot down assertions that the JFF was on a cost-cutting mission in booking the seats for the 39 member delegation.

The delegation ended up being split into four groups with the last group of six leaving Florida Saturday afternoon as  captain Konya Plummer, Jodi Brown and Kadijah Shaw did not have the requisite visa to travel through Amsterdam on their leg. Coaches Hue Menzies and Lorne Donaldson and physical trainer Jason Henry are travelling with those players. The full delegation is scheduled to arrive in Glasgow on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the JFF released a statement on Saturday afternoon, stating that 33 members of the 39 member delegation to Scotland arrived at 5:30 pm Jamaica time. This list includes 19 of the 23 players. The remaining four will arrive 5:15 am Sunday morning Jamaica time.

The statement went on to say that "challenges experienced with the itinerary for the delegation were due soley to the availability of the total number of seats available at the time of making the reservations. The release said the itinerary utilized was done in an effort to keep the entire group together. President of the JFF, Michael Ricketts will meet up with the group to ensure their is a smooth transition from the UK to France. 

Meanwhile, RJR Sports has learnt that the Reggae Girlz have not had a full training session since they left Jamaica on Monday. In addition to the game on Thursday in Miramar, Florida, the team has had a flurry of sponsorship and other engagements. The team also has sponsorship obligations in London ahead of flying to their training base in Lyon, France. While pointing out that the obligations to the sponsors was important, JFF vice president Bruce Gaynor told RJR Sports the federation has heard the concerns of the coaching staff and is working to address the matter:

 

 



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