Buckley wants to be like ‘Bunny’

Many of us know the show 'Like Mike' but young Reggae Girl Shaneil Buckley wants to be Like 'Bunny'.

Buckley is on target, having scored her first goal for the senior Reggae Girlz, which levelled the game 1-1 against Panama in the Concacaf Gold Cup qualifiers at the National Stadium on Wednesday.

"What can I say? It was good and exciting," Buckley, who has been in the national set-up since 2022, said humbly.

With her first mark on the goal sheet for the Girlz, Buckley said she hopes to continue to make an impact and be like Jamaica's leading goalscorer Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw.

"(I want) to be like 'Bunny' one day," she said. "(The aim is to) just continue playing football that I love and let players look up to me as much as I look up to other players," the 17-year-old striker said.

Buckley is not goal-shy, as she bagged 45 goals in the schoolgirls' competition last year to carry Excelsior High School to their 11th title.

Buckley said she wants to score as many goals as possible for the Reggae Girlz and be a motivation for girls, such as those hailing from the Newlands community in Portmore like her.

"It can motivate them, but it won't take them out of it (Newlands) unless they want to. They can look at me as just a normal player but, if they want to, they can do it just like I do," she said.

While on national duties, Buckley is juggling schoolwork and preparing for her CAPE examinations.

"It's not that bad. I am still getting the notes. I have to prepare for whatever because I have to do what I have to do," said Buckley, who is in lower sixth form.

She said one of her main reasons for working hard is her mother, to whom she dedicated her first national senior goal.