Reinas complete sweep at ‘Girls Can Play Too’ Tournament

Reinas Academy made it three titles in a row as they claimed the championship title at the St Ann regionals of the Youth Football League (YFL) ‘Girls Can Play Too’ under-13 5v5 tournament. Their victory in St Ann completed the sweep after already claiming the Kingston and Manchester regional titles.

It was a story of resilience for Reinas as they secured the St Ann title in a tense championship final against Genesis Academy. After a 0-0 draw after regulation time, Reinas got the better of Genesis 2-0 on penalties.

Reinas Academy founder Neo Oxford said while he is extremely proud of their achievement over the past three weeks, he is happy to see the players learning as they play more games.

Oxford applauded the ‘Girls Can Play Too’ tournament as he felt it provided a good platform for girls to develop their football skills at an early age.

“To be honest, we have built that type of culture from our senior girls down to our younger ones that we have to be serious and professional,” he said. “It wasn’t about winning, or a clean sweep, but ensuring that the young queens are learning and doing what they love. It means having a perfect environment for achieving this goal, so the mood was excellent.”

Genesis would get a measure of revenge in the under-13 mixed division. They met Reinas Academy again in the championship final with the game heading to penalties to decide the winner.

This time, it was Genesis who emerged champions, defeating Reinas 2-1 in the shootout.

In the under-9 division, Kings Football Academy took the title after defeating Richmond Football Academy 3-0 in the championship final.

Kings Football Academy would end the day undefeated, as they recorded three wins from as many games in the group stages, defeating Howard Cook Primary, Richmond Football Academy and Tomlinsons Football Academy along the way.