Bermudians Recruited to Brookhaven Team
Brookhaven College in Dallas, TX recently recruited Bermudians Micah Pond and Deshae Darrell to their women’s soccer team. Brookhaven is an NJCAA Division 3 junior college that competes in the Region 5 conference.
The team is coached by former Oklahoma City Slickers and Houston Dynamo Pro, Jimmy Elder, assisted by Bermudian and former Devonshire Colts youth coach Robert Williams.
“I am excited to have two Bermudian internationals to come to play in a very competitive school conference in Texas. The level of competition in Texas is top notch,” Williams told Bernews.
Last season the team finished second in their conference and then won their Metro Atlantic Conference Region 5 tournament, beating the usual powerhouse Richland College. Brookhaven then went on to compete at the National Tournament in Toms River, New Jersey.
“We finished a very respectable third place and have the only team with 90% freshmen,” Williams said. “We ended the season with two All-Americans, two All-Tournament players, the conference MVP, the leading goal scorer and the #1 goalkeeper in our conference.
“Now the goal is to keep recruiting the best players in the DFW area and to use my connections back home to get some quality players,” he added.
Williams says that this is what led him to recruit Micah Pond. “I knew about Micah from my days at Devonshire Colts,” he said. “Her play in the midfield for Devonshire Colts is what got me to invite her up for trials.”
“Micah really impressed Jimmy, myself and the rest of my team with her skill, technique, and reading of the game.”
“She really is a gifted athlete and we have her earmarked to be a potential starter in our midfield if she can adapt well in our rigorous preseason practices. I also know that she’s the national team goalkeeper and have taken that into account. That’s while Micah will still have weekly goalkeeper training and will also get some games in goal.”
Pond then recommended Deshae Darrell to the team, who at the time attended Daytona State College and was looking for a new school. However, because Darrell was already registered with a school, under NJCAA rules the coaches were not able to express their interest in her until she was released. Williams said: “Once she received her release I reached out to her immediately. It took a bit of convincing but I gave her our vision and what we’re trying to achieve at Brookhaven and she has now decided to join our ranks.”
“Deshae will add some serious firepower to our offense,” he added.
Williams told Bernews that it is his goal “to recruit as many female players out of Bermuda as possible.”
“I already have another Bermudian international that I have coming up in September for trials, with the hope of securing her for our spring season in January. I would love to offer Bermudian girls a different avenue for schools outside of the norm,” he added.
“We also have a lot of contacts with four-year schools and I’m confident that Jimmy and I can get our girls into some top universities that will offer them good money.”
