The late Reggae Girlz Tarania Clarke. Jamaica Football Federation
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Caribbean Life, N BQ ovember 8-14, 2019 55
By George Alleyne
Having thunderously gone
through qualifying stages and
with eyes set on competing among
seven other teams for a slot available
for CONCACAF nations in
the in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,
Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz suffered a
shock and setback with death of a
utility player.
Tarania ‘Plum Plum’ Clarke,
midfielder who overlaps when the
Girls are on attack, was on Thursday,
Oct. 31 stabbed to death allegedly
by a female friend, in Half-
Way Tree, St. Andrew, during a
dispute over a cellular phone.
Though mainly a midfielder
Clarke, 20, had scored a goal in
the Girlz’ 10-1 drubbing of Cuba
in the September 30 to October
08 series of matches among Caribbean
nations, for three spots in
the Olympic Championship where
they will take on sides from Central
and North America.
The two top teams emerging
from the Championships set for
January, will qualify for the Tokyo
Olympics.
The other Caribbean teams to
make it into for the Confederation
of North, Central American
and Caribbean Association Football
Women’s Olympic Qualifying
Championship are Haiti and St.
Kitts and Nevis.
In matches to be played in the
USA, they will take on the American
hosts, Canada, Mexico, Costa
Rica, and Panama.
But after recovering from their
present grief, the Jamaican Girlz
who steamed through the earlier
qualifying team beating all comers
by large margins, will have
to return to the drawing board
and amend plans for their team’s
January competitions without
‘Plum Plum’, who a letter-writer
to the Jamaica Gleaner described
as being “on the cusp of greatness
and in the prime of her life.”
Jamaica Football Federation
stated, “in the year when our senior
Reggae Girlz participated in
the FIFA Women’s World Cup and
the nation celebrated, the country
must now mourn the tragic
passing of one of its most talented
local-based players, Tarania ‘Plum
Plum’ Clarke.
“Described by those who
coached and managed her as quiet
and warm, she recently went into
a determined drive to improve her
skills, her fitness.
Clarke is one of the few players
to have represented Jamaica
at all levels, Under-15; Under-17;
Reggae Girlz lost
one of their own
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