Jamaica Women’s National Soccer Team Says Bob Marley’s Daughter Is Like ‘Our Fairy Godmother’

Cedella Marley has been helping fund the Jamaican women's soccer team since 2014

As the Jamaican Women’s National Soccer Team has struggled to get funding from its own country’s soccer organization in recent years, the team has found help in the daughter of its most famous artist: Cedella Marley.

Marley, the 55-year-old daughter of the late reggae pioneer Bob Marley, has been helping fund the women’s soccer team since 2014 — and is even responsible for resuscitating it — after Jamaica had shut down the squad in 2008, according to a new report from the Associated Press.

“Her support has been really important to us and she’s just the heart of this team,” Jamaica midfielder Deneisha Blackwood told the AP. “She’s just like our fairy godmother. We just appreciate her for everything she has done so far.”

In 2008, the country’s soccer organization had disbanded the team after it failed to qualify for the World Cup and the Olympics. The move drew Marley’s attention in 2014 and she began fundraising for the team, helping restart the squad in hopes of helping the country grow into an international contender.

Jamaica’s soccer federation has faced criticism for its lackluster funding of the team. Meanwhile, Marley “helps raise awareness for the team, encourages development and provides for it financially,” the organization says, having recently responded to criticism by acknowledging “things have not been done perfectly, and we are working assiduously to resolve them.”

Jamaica's soccer federation says the team is also receiving funding through FIFA, the Jamaican government, corporate sponsorships, as well as the team's own personal fundraising efforts through The Reggae Girlz Foundation. But Marley, a three-time Grammy Award winner herself, is the team’s primary sponsor for this year’s World Cup, according to the AP.

Related: Jamaica Beats Brazil to Make Round of 16 After Needing a GoFundMe to Afford Trip to World Cup

Jamaica is among one of the biggest Cinderella stories of the tournament, making the knockout round for the first time in the country’s history — a dramatic turnaround for the women’s squad, who made its first World Cup tournament in 2019 but failed to advance past the group stage.

“I think Cedella has been the most important part of our journey,” Blackwood said. “I think the best thing about her is she actually sees us not just as football players but as human beings. And I think that is just something that we’ve always wanted.”

Related: Alex Morgan Is 'Not Planning' to Retire After USWNT's 'Devastating' World Cup Defeat

Multiple players on the Jamaican team – known affectionately as “The Reggae Girlz” – spoke out on social media ahead of this year’s World Cup to express their frustration with Jamaica’s soccer federation, which they say has inadequately funded the team.

“The backbone of this team, all along, has been Cedella,” Jamaica coach Lorne Donaldson told the AP. “Without her, and I can honestly this, because when the program was under, there was no football for the women. She was the one who pushed the start button and said, `We need to go.’ ”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

The Reggae Girlz weren’t sure if they’d make it to this year’s World Cup, which is being hosted in Australia and New Zealand. The team leaned on a pair of last-minute fundraisers — including one GoFundMe launched by midfielder Havana Solaun’s mom — to help pay for their trip.

“If I can somehow make this journey smoother for them — and let them focus on what they’d love to do is play soccer — they shouldn’t be worried about the politics or getting a flight or getting accommodation,” Solaun’s mom, Sandra Phillips-Brower, told the AP last month. “They should be able to go there and do what they qualified to do, just play soccer.”

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.