HAMILTON, Bermuda — Imagine sitting on a flight from Kingston to Miami as a young Canadian-based Jamaican female football player and the person next to you is reading the sports page of the Jamaica Observer with your picture in it.

Delightful, isn’t it?

It was a pleasant surprise for national Under-20 representative Ebony Clarke, the star in a sport report of Monday’s publication.

Though it was by no means her first time being in the spotlight, the memory of such an occurrence will stay diamond-sharp with Clarke, as she relishes her newfound Jamaican fame.

“I was really surprised when I saw; I was like, what! I didn’t even know they were taking pictures and I didn’t even think I was going to be in the paper. So I was like wow, that’s pretty cool,” the beaming player told the Jamaica Observer at the team’s Grotto Bay Beach hotel here.

“I asked the guy [for the newspaper] to take a picture and he was like, ‘is that you?’

“And I said ‘yes’ and he is, like ‘No way, that’s really cool, and wished me good luck and stuff.”

“I have been in the spotlight before, but that was really cool because it’s like a Jamaican newspaper and it’s a new exposure, so this one will stay with me for a while,” she added.

To add to that, she was later asked for a photo opportunity by a fan while in transition from the Miami Airport to Bermuda, which capped off a long day of travelling.

But while glowing about the publicity, the 17-year-old remains focused on the business of football as the team gears up to face the hosts and Curacao in their Group B first-round Caribbean qualifiers.

And she is backing the team to make it through to the next stage of the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship.

“I like it here; it is different from what I am used to and it is so nice. But I am more looking forward to the games because I have never played any of these teams, and so it is going to be interesting to see different players and their style of play,” said Clarke, who attends the RC Palmer secondary school in Vancouver.

“I think we can make it to the championship because we have a really good team and I think we had a good game against the [St George’s College] boys, although we lost. But it was a hard game and I think if we build on that and just all work together then we will do really good and win,” she noted.

Clarke, who was introduced to the game at a tender age by her Jamaican dad Clive and mother Lisa — both of whom played the game at a semi-professional level — has since honed her skills as a bustling attacking midfielder.

She broke into the Jamaican team last year for the CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup qualifiers in Grenada, where they faced the region’s powerhouses United States, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Jamaica lost all three games, 1-8, 2-3 and 0-1 in that particular order, but the experience gained from the outcome was what left an indelible mark on Clarke. She now craves holistic success, starting with this tournament.

“It (football) is a lot of work and it takes a lot of determination and commitment to get to the level that you want to, but it doesn’t meant that you will always win and that is what keeps me going, because I know I can gain a lot out of it and meet lifelong friends, which is the enjoyable aspect of the game,” Clarke declared.

She continued: “Dad played at the club level and he really liked it, but he didn’t get the support to go really far. I honestly wouldn’t be playing today if they (mom and dad) didn’t support me and help me get to where I am. probably I wouldn’t even be as good as I am either.

“So for me, I am working really hard because I think there is always room for improvement and also to push myself more….I think skill-wise, I am good because my dad has helped me a lot to work harder and get better. So obviously I have aspirations to get to university and go pro. But university first and then see what happens from there.

Clarke was never hesitant to admit that she failed in her bid to make the Canadian team, but she viewed that rejection as a work of fate.

It brought her to the young Reggae Girlz set-up where the resources are not as vast as it is in Canada, but the Jamaican team holds a prizeds possession.

“I like it here (Jamaican team) and I wouldn’t change it; I didn’t really like the environment there (in Canada) so I decided not to continue to try and make the team, and my dad told me about the opportunity to play for Jamaica.

“It has been really good so far; the people in Jamaica are really nice and the coaches are good….they are straightforward and they explain things really well,” she said.