Female football in Barbados has fallen off in recent times, but according to one dedicated servant of the game, that was not always the case.
Former national player Kerry Trotman remembers when there was massive hype around the female game. From her primary years in the sport until when she retired from international football in 2014, female football had life in it.
Trotman has been involved in football from the age of when she was a student at Eden Lodge Primary School.
It was her uncle Barrie who introduced her to her first love. Trotman recalls accompanying her uncle to scrimmages each evening as a means of supervision whenever she came home from school.
Trotman was so intrigued by the sport, that each lunchtime she would mix with the boys for a game, announcing herself with similar dribbles and tackles which she would have previously seen at uncle Barrie’s exhibition.
The skills displayed by Trotman earned her a selection on the school team, which was coached by Physical Education teacher Ms Neblett, who Trotman said made her feel so comfortable and confident to perform in a male-dominated environment.
Trotman’s primary school and club experience with Eden Stars paved the way for her entrance at the Christ Church Foundation School as “the girl who can play”.
Sadly, that did not last throughout her school career due to safety reasons or at least that is what her coaches said to the then diminutive 15-year-old.
Trotman said the boys were getting bigger and stronger, however, that did not intimidate her but scared the coaches, who feared injury.
Trotman’s passion and desire did not stop her from dribbling at the boys or going into crunching tackles. Therefore, drastic action had to be taken.
“I was forced to stop because they know they couldn’t tell me to stop. So, they spoke to my mother, who at the time was not big on the whole football or running about period,” said Trotman.
Basketball became a safe alternative for Trotman, which she learnt very quickly from some boys in her neighbourhood and she would sharpen those skills at school when the boys gave her a chance to play.
It was during one of these occasions that she was recruited by Pizza Man Doc Tigers, through the school’s secretary at the time Ingrid Folks.
Basketball offered Trotman the first opportunity to represent her country when she was selected as part of the national U17 team. The team placed third in the Caribbean Junior Championships in Jamaica.
After her affair with basketball, Trotman returned to her first love in 2006 after numerous invitations by Marysse O’Neal.
Trotman joined the Genesis Football Club and represented them in the inaugural Barbados Women’s Premier League and scored the first goal in the competition as well.
A number of outstanding performances would see Trotman receive a call-up for the national team, just mere months after her return to the sport.
This would be the start of an eight-year tenure with a mixed bag of feelings stated Trotman.
She recalled her best moment being in 2010 during an international tournament on home soil.
“In 2010 we hosted the Concacaf First Leg for the World Cup Qualifiers. I had a good performance in each game. I also think I scored during that tournament.”
While four years later, her worst experience as a national player occurred.
“I had a MCL strain during a practice game against boys. I went into a 50-50 and hyper-extended the inside of my knee. I knew we were going to be traveling and I worked really hard to make the team and then the coach that worked hard with the team, was sacked and the assistant coach had to take over and everything seemed to have been lost.”
That was Trotman’s last experience with the national team as a player and she moved onto coaching full time.
That was Trotman’s last experience with the national team as a player and she moved onto coaching full time.
Trotman’s coaching passage started in 2013 with her beloved Genesis unit and it came by default as the club was going through some restructuring and she was one of the most experienced players on the team.
After being laid off in 2013, Trotman said she started to invest heavily in her coaching career and did coaching courses with the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) and the Barbados Football Association (BFA), where she now stands as the only female on the island with a Concacaf B License.
Trotman’s elevation saw her take on a greater challenge as she moved to the Kickstart Football Club in 2015 and merged Genesis with the established football club a year later.
To date, Trotman has coached in the women’s game, men, youth and at the international level with the female U15, U17 and U20 teams; an experience she describes as challenging but enjoyable.
“So far it’s been a pretty good experience. Being a part of the management of a national team and seeing the issues that a national can have. So many issues that you have to deal with, that players don’t know about and at the same time you have to keep the players focused, while staying focus as the coach. Despite that, I don’t think I would change my thoughts of coaching. I enjoy it,“ said Trotman.
As one of the senior female figures of the game on the island, Trotman believes that female football needs urgent attention. She argued that the sport needs to be resurrected because it has been submerged for too long.
“I think it’s totally disgusting that after we started the inaugural competition in 2006 and we still can’t seem to push the sport to a certain level. I think if the right people have been involved or the people that had the right interest in female football, we could probably be a lot further,” Trotman passionately stated.
Trotman strengthened her sentiments as she mentioned the number of clubs has startling declined from ten to an embarrassing five.
The football stalwart believes there needs to be a better relationship and channels of communication between the BFA and clubs if the sport is to see any success.
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