Within the wake of one more excellent 12 months for Jamaican girls’s soccer — with Reggae Girlz captain Khadija Shaw capturing her second consecutive Ladies’s Tremendous League Golden Boot and incomes Barclays WSL Participant of the Month honours — consideration can be turning to the following wave of Reggae Girlz expertise rising overseas.
Amongst them is fellow nationwide participant and Daytona State School standout Shaniel Buckley, whose record-breaking junior school season has positioned her firmly on the radar. Whereas Buckley continues to be at an early stage of her journey, her dominance on the collegiate stage mirrors the early pathways taken by a few of Jamaica’s largest stars.
From Portmore to Excellent US Collegiate
Born on 20 Might 2005 in Portmore, Buckley emerged as a standout expertise at Excelsior High School, the place her technical capability, work price, and soccer intelligence shortly set her aside. A midfielder by commerce, she developed a fame for shut management, imaginative and prescient, and a capability to affect matches at each ends of the pitch.
Her performances on the college stage propelled her into Jamaica’s nationwide youth setup, the place she represented the island at Beneath-17 and Beneath-20 ranges. Notably, she was a part of the younger Reggae Girlz squad that certified for the 2023 CONCACAF Ladies’s Beneath-20 Championship, gaining beneficial expertise towards elite regional opposition.
Searching for broader publicity and a transparent growth pathway, Buckley later made the transfer to america to proceed her educational and soccer journey.
A record-breaking 2025 season
That call paid quick dividends. The 2025 marketing campaign proved to be a defining one as Buckley delivered one of the vital full seasons by a junior school participant in latest reminiscence. She completed with 23 objectives and 10 assists, enjoying a central function in Daytona State School securing a second consecutive NJCAA Nationwide Championship. Her affect was recognised with a sweep of high honours, together with NJCAA Division I Nationwide Match Most Useful Participant and Most Useful Offensive Participant (2025), in addition to NJCAA Area 8 Participant of the Yr (2025).
Her adorned résumé additionally consists of United Soccer Coaches All-American honours (2024), choice to the NJCAA Division I Nationwide All-Match Group (2024), the United Soccer Coaches All-East Area Group (2024), and NJCAA Area 8 First-Group recognition in each 2024 and 2025. A confirmed performer in decisive moments, Buckley was a nationwide champion in 2024 after scoring the game-winning purpose within the remaining, earlier than serving to Daytona State repeat as champions the next 12 months.
What’s subsequent
With junior school soccer conquered, Buckley now prepares for the following step, transferring to Florida State College, one in every of NCAA Division I girls’s soccer’s most revered programmes. The transfer represents a big step up in competitors and visibility, putting her in an elite surroundings identified for growing gamers able to progressing to the skilled and worldwide sport.
Now a senior member of Jamaica’s nationwide programme, Buckley’s long-term ambition is obvious: to signify Jamaica on the FIFA Ladies’s World Cup. From Portmore to nationwide titles in america and the Reggae Girlz senior setup, her journey displays the depth of Jamaican girls’s soccer at this time — and the regular emergence of a participant decided to make her mark at each stage.
