Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw, 24, was the top scorer in the Feminine Division 1, the top-ranking women’s league in France. Her total of 22 goals brought her the coveted French League Golden Boot award. Shaw, who plays with the Reggae Girlz, Jamaica’s national team, and is currently under contract to the French team Girondins de Bordeaux, started the final round of matches tied at 21 goals with Marie-Antoinette Katoto of Paris Saint Germain (PSG), but after her team achieved a 4-2 victory, Shaw finished by winning the Golden Boot as the season’s top scorer.
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) congratulated Shaw on her achievement. She is the top goalscorer for Jamaica as well, with 42 goals in 30 starts. Micheal Rickett, the president of the JFF, described Shaw as “the embodiment of hard work, resilience, and discipline” and that these are the qualities that make her a stand-out among her peers. Shaw is the first Bordeaux player to win the Golden Boot. Additionally, this is the first time in ten years that the award was won by a player who does not represent either the PSG or Powerhouse Lyon teams.
Hubert Babsy Jr., the Reggae Girlz senior women’s head coach, said he was not surprised by Shaw’s win, noting that she has already shown she is one of the best female strikers in the world. He said it was a “fantastic achievement” for her to end her season as the French League’s top scorer.
Shaw’s two-year contract with Bordeaux will expire in the summer of 2021, and she decided to sit out the international friendlies the Reggae Girlz will play against Nigeria and the World Champion United States on June 10 and June 13, respectively, in Houston, Texas. Her performances with the Reggae Girlz and Bordeaux have brought her the attention of several European football clubs. There are reports that Manchester City is the leading contender to obtain her signature on a new contract.
Khadija Monifa Shaw was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, in 1997. She played for Eastern Florida State College for her first two years in junior college, winning NSCAA first-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-America honors in 2016. She transferred to the University of Tennessee in 2017, where she played on the All-SEC first team in both seasons with Tennessee. She also won the SEC Offensive Player of the Year award in her senior year in 2018. Shaw played for WPSL’s semi-pro Florida Krush in 2018, and in 2019, signed with the Bordeaux team. She debuted professionally in August of 2019 with Bordeaux, scoring two goals that led to the team’s 4-1 victory over FC Fleury 91. Also in 2019, Shaw was a member of the Jamaican team that qualified for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the first Caribbean country in history to do so.
Photo Courtesy Reggae Girlz Facebook
