Junior Cup, Norbrook Strikers unearth precocious talent
WITH QUICK feet and precocious talent, Orania Campbell was a fan favourite at the Youth Football League Junior Cup all-island finals yesterday.
Dancing through defences, the only girl in Norbrook Strikers’ youth football programme looked a real talent and her coach, her coach Delano Campbell believes she will play an integral part in Jamaica’s fortunes in football.
Now 12 years old, Orania has been playing for Norbrook Strikers for four years, ever since being introduced to the organisation by Umoja Management, an organisation aimed at developing football talent in the community of Trench Town.
“Umoja Management is a sports group based in Trench Town with the sole purpose of developing talent from that area. That is where the partnership started from and that’s what brought her to Norbrook Strikers. So far, she has won five under-11 titles, four under-10 titles and lost only one final with the under-9s. Apart from her being a girl, she has been playing really well,” said Campbell.
Norbrook Strikers has become home to Orania, with her teammates treating her like a sister.
But while she may have the acceptance of her team, Campbell explained Orania still struggles to get the support of her family members, who do not believe a girl should be pursuing a football career.
“The entire Norbrook Strikers family has adopted her,” he said.
“She’s the only girl that is active in the team and playing football with the boys, so she’s literally the sister of over 300 boys right now.
Orania, who is a big fan of English Premier League club, Arsenal, said she hopes to one day become a Reggae Girl and dreams of playing alongside her favourite player, Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw
Her coach believes she has the talent to achieve her dreams and said he will be supporting her every step of the way.
“With her quality and with her tenaciousness, we can go so far with her! There is no doubt and we believe in the vision we have for her. She’s very young and has a long way to go, but we believe she has the quality. The pinnacle is to one day see her playing professional football.”