No time for doubt!

National senior women's team centre back and captain Konya Plummer says she had to overcome self-doubt and criticism to now enjoy a successful career as a footballer.

Unlike many players who credit global football stars as idols who made them interested in playing the game, Plummer says the time she spent on the fields in her hometown of Epsom, St Mary, is what led to her interest in and knowledge of the sport.

"Going to the ball field, the boys that I played with, I tried to do what they always did and tried to fit in more with them," she said. "So I feel like just watching them gave me the confidence and playing with them gave me the strength to be a better player today."

Plummer spent time at Annotto Bay High School in St Mary, before transferring to Titchfield High School in Portland, and said her focus was more on athletics than academics. This was the basis for much of the criticism she received as she said her grades suffered as a result.

FELT LIKE GIVING UP

"In anything you do, there are always gonna be trials," she said. "The biggest (issue) for me was leaving Jamaica to go to a college overseas because of my grades and people's negativity. People would tell me I'm not good enough, because I focused more on athletics than academics.

"When it was time to go to college, I didn't have enough credits to go overseas. People talked. At one point, I felt like I would give up, but that's when I went to GC Foster to play the summer league. I was looking forward to going to their school, but then I got in touch with Southeastern University (in Central Florida).

But Plummer, now a student athlete at the University of Central Florida, then moved to Kingston and she said that it brought positives to her life because of the support she received from her aunt and cousins there.

Plummer, 21 years old, was pivotal to the Reggae Girlz's historic qualification for the FIFA Women's World Cup and caught the eyes of many not just with her solid defensive displays, but also her technical assurance on the ball, in playing out and joining in the team's attack. For this, she credits her coaches for giving her the freedom to express herself on the field.

"The coaches know my strengths and weaknesses," she said. "In some games, you gotta do some things in order to win and I feel that going forward (in the qualifying games) was beneficial for the team."

Now she turns her attention to her World Cup campaign this summer and she is optimistic of a good performance from the team as a whole.

"I hope to just go to the World Cup and win games and represent Jamaica as best as possible," she said.