World Cup Dreams for UO Alum Marlo Sweatman
05/09/18 | Women's Soccer
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Soccer has taken Marlo Sweatman around the world. The 2017 UO alum first went from her native Virginia to Florida, and then Oregon, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Now Sweatman finds herself in Haiti with a chance to earn a trip to the 2019 Women's World Cup.
Sweatman, whose mother Beverly is from Jamaica, was recently called up to the Jamaican National Team and will be in uniform when the Jamaicans open the 2018 CONCACAF Caribbean Women's Qualifier today against Guadeloupe in Port-Au-Prince (1 p.m. PT).
Earlier this spring, UO associate head coach Manny Martins crossed paths with the Jamaican coaches at a youth tournament. The Jamaicans asked Martins if Sweatman would be interested in joining their CONCACAF team, and in short order, Sweatman was the newest member of the "Reggae Girlz."
Sweatman joined her new teammates in Orlando for training camp before the team flew to Haiti on Monday.
The Jamaicans face a challenging road to the 2019 Women's World Cup. They must first win their Group B qualifier in round-robin play versus Guadeloupe, Martinique (Friday, 1 p.m. PT) and group favorite Haiti (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. PT).
Should the Jamaicans survive that, they would then advance to the final round of the Caribbean championships Aug. 25-Sept. 2 against the other four group winners from the Caribbean nations. The top three countries from that stage advance to the 2018 CONCACAF Championship, which will be played Oct. 4-17 in North Carolina and Texas.
The United States, Canada and Mexico hold automatic berths to the Championship. The top three teams from the CONCACAF Championships receive bids to the 2019 World Cup, while the fourth-place team earns a spot in a playoff for a World Cup bid. Jamaica's highest finish at the CONCACAF tournament was fourth in 2006.
Sweatman spent her first season in college at Florida State before transferring to Oregon where she became a mainstay in the midfield. Playing mainly as the Ducks' holding midfielder, she appeared in 57 games with 55 starts from 2014-16, scoring four goals with one assist. She was also a two-time Pac-12 all-academic selection.
- www.GoDucks.com -
Now Sweatman finds herself in Haiti with a chance to earn a trip to the 2019 Women's World Cup.
Sweatman, whose mother Beverly is from Jamaica, was recently called up to the Jamaican National Team and will be in uniform when the Jamaicans open the 2018 CONCACAF Caribbean Women's Qualifier today against Guadeloupe in Port-Au-Prince (1 p.m. PT).
Earlier this spring, UO associate head coach Manny Martins crossed paths with the Jamaican coaches at a youth tournament. The Jamaicans asked Martins if Sweatman would be interested in joining their CONCACAF team, and in short order, Sweatman was the newest member of the "Reggae Girlz."
Sweatman joined her new teammates in Orlando for training camp before the team flew to Haiti on Monday.
The Jamaicans face a challenging road to the 2019 Women's World Cup. They must first win their Group B qualifier in round-robin play versus Guadeloupe, Martinique (Friday, 1 p.m. PT) and group favorite Haiti (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. PT).
Should the Jamaicans survive that, they would then advance to the final round of the Caribbean championships Aug. 25-Sept. 2 against the other four group winners from the Caribbean nations. The top three countries from that stage advance to the 2018 CONCACAF Championship, which will be played Oct. 4-17 in North Carolina and Texas.
The United States, Canada and Mexico hold automatic berths to the Championship. The top three teams from the CONCACAF Championships receive bids to the 2019 World Cup, while the fourth-place team earns a spot in a playoff for a World Cup bid. Jamaica's highest finish at the CONCACAF tournament was fourth in 2006.
Sweatman spent her first season in college at Florida State before transferring to Oregon where she became a mainstay in the midfield. Playing mainly as the Ducks' holding midfielder, she appeared in 57 games with 55 starts from 2014-16, scoring four goals with one assist. She was also a two-time Pac-12 all-academic selection.
- www.GoDucks.com -
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