How Bob Marley's daughter refused to let the Reggae Girlz die

Cedella Marley played a role in saving Jamaica's women's national team not once, but twice

13 years ago, the Jamaica Football Federation made the decision to scrap the country’s women’s national team.

Money, the organisation argued, was tight and so a sacrifice had to be made. The Reggae Girlz, as they are called, were to be that sacrifice. That was until Cedella Marley, Bob Marley’s eldest daughter, got involved.

Alerted to the plight of Jamaica’s women’s national team by a flier found in her son’s backpack, Cedella made it her mission to keep the country’s best female players playing. She became the symbol of the fight against a federation widely seen as neglectful in its duty to Jamaican football, raising and donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cause.

Now, the Reggae Girlz are at the 2023 Women’s World Cup - their second Women’s World Cup after qualifying in 2019 - and Cedella has played as big a role as anyone in the growth of the women’s game in Jamaica.

Bob was known to be a big football fan, but his daughter has made a truly profound impact on the sport in her homeland.