Former captain invited to Reggae Girlz training

Reggae Girlz coach Lorne Donaldson has revealed that he has invited former captain Konya Plummer to the training camp for their two friendly games against Paraguay next month.

Plummer, who gave birth in recent months, has not played competitively since her contract option with Orlando Pride was declined and she was released last December.

However, Donaldson said the 25 year-old, who captained the Reggae Girlz on their historic qualification to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, still has a lot to offer the programme and the team in the 2023 World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.

In order to assess her recovery and ensure that she stays in touch with his system and ideas, Donaldson has invited her to train with the team for the November matches.

“Konya is not able to play now, but obviously, we want to bring her in. So we will bring her in now so we can see where she is medically.

“Our medical team can assess her and know exactly where she is at. I cannot tell and they cannot tell, so we have to put her in the group and give her some light training,” he said.

“She needs to know what is going on and being around and being a part of the camp will help.

“So we are trying to get her in with us so she can get herself assimilated again within the squad.”

Donaldson pointed out that he rates the defender and former captain highly, and he’s hoping she will be back to full fitness by early next year to be in consideration for World Cup selection.

“She is still a pretty young player, and with her age, she still has a couple more World Cups left under her belt.

“Having a kid is not life stopping. You just have to find a way to get back in. So we have to get her back into the fold.

“Our best female sprinter right now (Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce) had a kid and there are many people like that.

“So the door remains open for her, and we have to keep it that way. We have to get her back in the system so she know what is going on,” he continued.

“We think that she will be able to play by January, February, and it is very important that she be a part of the group especially when we are in Jamaica.

“If we were in another country, we wouldn’t be able to fly her there, but once we are in Jamaica, it is important that she is a part of the routine.”

Meanwhile, the Reggae Girlz coach declared that when in Jamaica, his training sessions will be open to local coaches.

“Our training sessions in Jamaica will be open to all coaches. We will put out the time and dates when we are training. At the end of the training, we can have a question-and- answer session, and they can meet with the players,” Donaldson said.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com