Carter shining in Rome
Trudi Carter ticked off one of her lifelong goals when she and the Reggae Girlz historically qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup last month, and on the weekend, she started the hunt to achieve another target on her bucket list.
The Arnett Gardens native came off the bench to register her first minutes for AS Roma last Saturday in Italy’s top female league and provided an assist in her side’s 7-1 thrashing of Chievo Verona in the Serie A Femminile, as she and her teammates hunt a spot in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
The Jamaican, who plays in the number 28 jersey for her new club, got on the end of a long ball before back-heeling a pass to Giada Greggi, who had little to do after finding herself one on one with the Chievo Verona goalkeeper.
Carter, who celebrated her 24th birthday yesterday, was making her debut for the club, as she continues to work her way back to full recovery from a bothersome knee injury. The skillful winger was at a loss for words following what is being hailed in Italy as her impressive debut.
STILL ADJUSTING
“There is no word that can describe my emotions right now,” Carter told STAR Sports after the match. “I am thankful to the Almighty for getting me here knowing that I was injured and was out for a month and a half. I am also grateful to help my teammates get the win.”
She continued: “I am even more pleased with my performance because I was out for so long. I am just going to keep working hard so that my team can finish in the top two to be able to qualify for the Champions League.”
Carter, who is still adjusting to conditions in Rome, said her teammates have welcomed her to the team well and is helping her to understand the programme despite her still learning to communicate in their language.
“I actually love it over here. My teammates have welcomed me with open arms. Training can be hard sometimes, especially because I don’t’ understand the language, but my teammates assist me with the translation sometimes and it helps,” she said.
Cater and her teammates will play away to Mozzanica on Saturday.
Now that he has received his health insurance package from the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), Chadwick Walton said he will be approaching the rest of his career with more peace of mind.
Walton received his health card from president of WIPA Wavell Hinds, who worked hard to garner the $32 million from Cricket West Indies, which was needed to secure the insurance plan from Excel/VUMI. The packages were handed over to local players at a ceremony last Friday at WIPA’s office at Sabina Park.
“I am pleased with the efforts of WIPA and Cricket West Indies. It gives us a peace of mind to go out there and play cricket knowing that you are covered if anything happens and there are offthe-field issues as well and it states that we are covered for 21 critical illnesses,” Walton said.
The 33-year-old, who made his debut for the regional side back in 2009, said that he has been working assiduously with coach of the Jamaica Scorpions Robert Samuels, as he tries to revive his batting form.
“I am working on some things with coach Samuels and I just have to wait and see what happens, but I am just trying to go out there and enjoy the cricket.”
Over 120 players from the region with retainer contracts are covered by the insurance plan.