Will Hitzelberger’s Journey with the Jamaica Women’s National Team
In 2014, a Jamaican colleague reached out to performance coach Will Hitzelberger about joining the Jamaican Women’s National Team. At the time, Cedella Marley — Bob Marley’s daughter and the team’s ambassador — was assembling a coaching staff with one ambitious goal: to help the Reggae Girlz qualify for the FIFA World Cup.
Just three days later, Hitzelberger was in Kingston at the National Stadium, assessing the players. What he found was a group of talented but underprepared athletes — among the least fit he had ever seen. The task of qualifying for the 2015 World Cup proved too ambitious with such limited time, but the foundation for long-term change had been laid.
Over the next four years, Cedella Marley a staff to help support the U17, U20, and senior squads. They traveled across Central America and the Caribbean, implementing new systems of training, performance standards, and measurable benchmarks. Step by step, the culture began to shift.
That work culminated in 2018 when the Reggae Girlz made history as the first Caribbean women’s team to qualify for a FIFA World Cup. The following year, Hitzelberger helped prepare the squad for the 2019 World Cup in France. Though the team failed to record a win, the experience became a turning point. Hitzelberger immediately documented everything that needed to improve for future campaigns.
In 2022, with a new coaching staff, Jamaica embarked on its next qualifying journey. This time, the preparation and vision paid off. The Reggae Girlz once again secured World Cup qualification, earning their place in the 2023 tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
As Performance Director, Hitzelberger oversaw far more than fitness. He influenced scheduling, training camps, travel logistics, accountability, communication, nutrition, player selection, and even the management of the support staff. Facing international giants like France and Brazil, Jamaica advanced beyond the group stage — another historic milestone.
A few months later, in October 2023, the Reggae Girlz attempted to add to their legacy by qualifying for the Olympics. Despite a strong campaign, they fell short against powerhouse Canada. With that, Hitzelberger’s tenure with the team came to an end — closing nearly a decade of work that reshaped the culture of Jamaican women’s soccer and left an enduring legacy of professionalism, structure, and belief.
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