Jamaica’s women’s football ecosystem took a major step forward in early May 2026, when three leading regional football bodies joined forces to deliver a landmark two-day Capacity Building and Club Licensing Workshop focused on empowering coaches, club administrators, and aspiring young players across the country.
Organized collaboratively by Professional Women’s Football Jamaica Limited (PWFJL), the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), the event was split across two venues in Kingston: the Courtyard by Marriott and the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence. While the workshop covered a broad range of industry-critical topics from high-performance coaching techniques to match analysis and club licensing compliance, one of its most anticipated components was a dedicated college recruitment program designed to help Jamaican female players secure athletic scholarships at U.S. and Canadian post-secondary institutions.
The comprehensive agenda was tailored to address unmet needs across all levels of the women’s game. For coaches and administrators, sessions broke down modern training planning frameworks, professional development benchmarks, and the step-by-step requirements of international club licensing. For players, the program demystified the often complex collegiate recruitment process, outlining key academic and athletic eligibility standards, detailing clear scholarship pathways, and clarifying what college programs expect from recruited athletes. The recruitment presentation was led by two of the region’s most respected elite football educators: Heather Dyche, head coach of the United States U-23 Women’s National Team and assistant coach of the U.S. senior women’s side, and Dr. Vanessa Martinez Lagunas, head coach of Mexico’s U-23 women’s team and a certified FIFA Elite Coach Educator.
In opening remarks, PWFJL Chairperson Christina Hudson emphasized that intentional investment in people is the foundation of long-term growth for women’s football in Jamaica. “Creating access to education, international exposure, and career advancement has always been one of our core priorities,” Hudson said. “This college recruitment session was particularly transformative because it put direct, actionable guidance in the hands of young players who can use that knowledge to change the trajectory of their lives, both on and off the pitch.” She also extended public gratitude to both Concacaf and the JFF for their partnership in bringing the workshop to fruition, crediting their collaboration for the event’s success.
Carlene Edwards, a member of FIFA’s Women’s National Teams Committee, framed the workshop as a key strategic milestone in ongoing efforts to strengthen Jamaica’s entire women’s football infrastructure through targeted education, professional upskilling, and cross-border collaboration. Speaking in an interview with the Jamaica Observer, Edwards noted that the high level of engagement from all attendees was a promising sign for the future of the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL). “Every session touched on core priorities that are non-negotiable for our long-term growth: club governance, professional development, and clear pathways to international opportunity,” Edwards explained. “It’s incredibly encouraging to see the entire community coming together to advance our coaches, our administrators, and our players.”
Both guest presenters echoed that sentiment, highlighting the untapped talent across the Caribbean region and the critical gap that workshops like this fill. Dyche pointed out that even with abundant natural talent, many young athletes miss out on international opportunities simply because they lack access to clear, reliable information about the recruitment process. Lagunas added that these collaborative development events do more than just connect players to scholarships: they build the foundational support networks and pathways that strengthen women’s football across the entire region.
For the JWPL and Jamaican women’s football as a whole, the workshop marks a concrete investment in sustainable growth, addressing systemic gaps while opening new doors for the next generation of female athletes.