El Paso Locomotive FC goalkeeper Jahmali Waite and Las Vegas Lights FC defender Maliek Howell have been named in Jamaica’s squad for a pair of international friendlies against Caribbean rival Trinidad and Tobago this week.

The sides will meet on Thursday at the Montego Bay Sports Complex in Trinidad at 7:30 p.m. before concluding the home-and-home series on Sunday at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex in Kingston, Jamaica at 8 p.m.

Waite returns to the Reggae Boyz squad as one of the experienced members in a group of primarily domestic-based talent. He has made 13 appearances at the senior international level for Jamaica, recording five shutouts, and competed in last year’s 2024 Copa America.

The 26-year-old has also become a mainstay in the USL Championship, recording 77 appearances over the past three seasons for Locomotive and Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. Waite has recorded 23 shutouts and 176 saves in the league across the regular season and playoffs.

Howell returns to the Reggae Boyz squad for the first time since 2022, when he appeared in three international exhibitions for the side. The Kingston native is coming off a stellar season in which he helped lead the Lights to their first trip to the USL Championship Playoffs and a place in the Western Conference Final before falling to eventual title-winner Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC.

The center back made 29 appearances for the Lights, winning 81 duels at a 66.4 percent success rate and 14 tackles at a 66.7 percent success rate while making 28 interceptions and 90 recoveries. The 26-year-old will now look to make an impression with current Jamaica manager Steve McLaren ahead of March’s FIFA international window and this summer’s World Cup Qualifiers.

“One of my objectives this year is getting back in my national team to help bring my country to the 2026 World Cup as a born and raised Jamaican,” Howell told the Jamaica Observer last month. “I’ve been coming right up through the youth system — U17, U20, U23 — and this has always been something I’ve looked forward to doing, and I don’t think there is any better time than now to do it.

“I have faith, and I believe what is to be will be. The decision of me getting that opportunity is up to the coaches and the scouting and selection group. Personally, I’m hungry and ready to take the opportunity, once given. I can play both right back and centre back, which should be a plus for me, in my head. I dominated the USL Championship last year [by] being a key player to my team’s success in making the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. I’ve played almost 2,000 professional minutes as a rookie first-year professional, which should say a lot about the confidence my coach or club had in me and the quality I displayed to be given that trust.”