Growing up, Cedella Marley was always close to a soccer ball because she was the daughter of renowned soccer fan and global reggae icon Bob Marley.
Cedella remembers her father, Bob Marley, telling her that if he hadn’t been a musician, he would have loved to play soccer. Speaking to CNN, Cedella recalled how her father was always enthusiastic about soccer, playing every day and anywhere, she said.
He would play anywhere he was: on the road, you’d find a field, you’d find a team.
Cedella Marley said
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The daughter of the reggae legend recalls watching her father and siblings playing as she grew up and picking certain skills from them, including competitiveness. Although Marley has always enjoyed soccer, for a long time her involvement in the sport was limited to kickabouts with her dad and siblings until 2014 when she discovered Jamaica’s women’s national football team was being revived.
The Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) had earlier terminated the women’s national team program in 2008 due to underfunding. Marley said that they were able to generate $300,000 in the first year by combining the earnings from the song “Strike Hard,” a GoFundMe page, and becoming a representative and sponsor of the women’s national soccer team through the Bob Marley Foundation.
She has never looked back since in her support for the team. Her commitment to the team’s success, together with other stakeholders is said to have landed the Jamaican Women’s National Football Team in this year’s Women’s World Cup. Cedella Marley’s efforts have improved player conditions and standards and changed the nation’s perception of the women’s national football team.
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In the Women’s World Cup, Jamaica’s women’s national football team, also known as Reggae Girlz, earned the country’s first-ever point. Cedella Marley has been celebrated for her efforts in growing the team to where it is now.
