Third time’s the charm for Denham Town girls?

Always the bridesmaid but never the bride can accurately describe Denham Town High School female football team’s fortune in the recent seasons of the ISSA/Locker Room Schoolgirl Football Competition.

After making two consecutive appearances in the finals, the Denham Town High girls will be hoping that this will be their year to lift the elusive crown.

At the helm of the title contender is coach Kimathi-Nkrumah Makonnen, who believes that despite falling just short of the ultimate prize last year, losing 4-1 to Excelsior in the final, his girls had a successful season.

He says that with the problems that hampered their preparations and the loss of head coach Omar Edwards, who left the island to coach in the Turks and Caicos Islands, it was particularly noteworthy that the team made it that far.

“The experience of the team last year, to be honest with you, was really good. What happened was that we really didn’t get to play any practice games, so we had to prepare by playing against ourselves,” said Makonnen. “In the beginning, we had Omar (Edwards) but he’s not there anymore, so we mainly focused on the tactical aspects and the technical ability of the players.”

He acknowledges that this season will also come with its fair share of complications as well but feels the girls are able to overcome them. With the volatile external factors hampering their preseason work and the loss of their senior players, his team will enter the competition with a lot to prove.

“We don’t get to play any practice games. That’s how our preparations always go as usual, it’s nothing new. It’s the same this season,” he explained. “We lost a few players; one went to university overseas and two of them are still here playing in the club league. We can’t do a lot of recruiting because the environment is very volatile, so not a lot of student athletes are willing to come to the school, so we have to teach these girls how to handle the big-field situations.”

Key player

A key player for the Denham Town unit will be national youth representative Natoya Atkinson. The promising striker has been making a steady rise in local football after a stellar campaign with the U14 Reggae Girlz in the CONCACAf Challenge Series last summer and will be hoping to help her team in their title chase.

Makonnen describes Atkinson as a diamond in the rough after explaining that just over a year ago, she had never competed in organised football before, as all her experience comes from street football. He admits that with the right dedication, Atkinson will become a player to watch out for.

Gregory Bryce