Real Mona return to women’s football with youthful look

Real Mona will be returning to the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) with a squad the coach, Neo Oxford, says boasts an average age of 17 years old.

Real Mona are set to return to the ranks of the JWPL, which is slated to kick off its second season since its rebrand on March 7.

Ahead of the competition, Real Mona and Reinas Academy, one of the leading girls’ football academy in Jamaica, had agreed an unofficial partnership.

This partnership allows for players from Reinas to compete in the JWPL under Real Mona’s banner.

Oxford, founder of Reinas, said their squad of 30 players will be a lot younger than their opponents as they hold an average age of 17.

A number of the girls are also members of Merl Grove High’s schoolgirl football squad that made it to the semi-finals of last season’s ISSA TIP Friendly Society Schoolgirls’ Football Competition for the first time in the school’s history.

“Well, Reinas has two mergers, actually,” Oxford said. “They are also merged with Merl Grove High School.

“With that merger, a lot of the base of the squad for the Premier League team are Merl Grove members as well. So our preseason has really been the schoolgirls’ preseason, using those girls to play tournaments and to play college showcases. So we’ve gotten a good amount of training in and match training as well.”

Oxford said despite their age, his players are more than ready to compete against their more senior opponents.

He explained the level of football they expect from the JWPL should equate to the level of women’s collegiate football in the United States.

With his players preparing themselves for collegiate football, they are well aware of what they will be coming up against.

“Our average age is 17, and we personally believe that, yes, we might have some younger than 17; but if you look anywhere around the world, 17, 18, that’s the age that’s looking to take the mantle of professional football now,” Oxford explained.

“I think we are where we need to be as it regards to getting these players exposure against better opposition, and to get them ready for if they should decide to go pro or if they go to the collegiate level. Because we personally believe that overseas, the collegiate level will be around the same level that you will witness in the Premier League.”

Real Mona are no strangers to the JWPL and were quarter-finalists in 2019.

Oxford is looking to return to those heights with his youthful squad, and believes they have the quality to make a deep run in the competition.

Although he shied away from speaking on a potential title charge, he said he would be surprised if his players are able to make it all the way to the final.

“We’ve entered before, back then, with an even younger team than what we’re entering with now, and we went all the way to the quarter-finals,” he said.

“We were competitive, we turned some heads, and some of those girls are back in this squad, which we’re elated about to see their growth,” Oxford continued.

“I’m not going to say we’re going to go on to win or that we’ll go to the final. Anything is possible. But right now, I can tell you that we will be competitive throughout this league.”

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com