National hockey debutant Jovanna Johnson of Old Harbour wants to make her family and country proud

The 20-year-old resident of Old Harbour Glades is still beaming with pride after representing Jamaica for the first time in what is still a budding hockey career.

Johnson was a member of the Jamaica women’s senior team that finished third in the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games Women’s Hockey Qualifier in Hamilton, Bermuda. The tournament was held April 13-17 with host Bermuda topping the final points standing ahead of Puerto Rico, with Guyana finishing at the bottom. Weeks later after returning home Johnson is still elated about a dream now being realised.

“There’s a feeling of accomplishment,” said the University of Technology (UTech) freshman. “I feel very proud of myself because I know that I have worked very hard.”

After making her first appearance for the national team at any level and getting the taste of travelling and playing hockey outside the country for the first time too, Jovanna says the experience has served as a huge motivation.

“It also made me feel that I can do more and I want to do more,” she added.

It has been quite a remarkable journey getting to this stage of her career. She was introduced to the sport at age 16 by high school physical education teacher Christine Bartley. At that age she was a competent netball player and very much in the running to represent her school in the sport. But her teacher believes the skillset of this multi-talented athlete would be best served playing hockey.

The Denbigh High School past student hasn’t looked back since and with this opportunity is aiming to cement her place in the national setup.

Few would bet against her becoming a mainstay in the national team, as her rise was self-evident in her high school years, leading Denbigh to third-placed in the ISSA U-19 tournament, while copping the most valuable player (MVP) accolade. Every time Jovanna stepped onto the field her brilliance shone bright which saw her being recruited by Sharpe’s Rebel Hockey Club while still in high school.

However, making the step up to the international level in Bermuda was a test of a different kind, she revealed.

“I felt a lot of pressure because it was different and I was representing my country and I wanted to make my country proud and my family, my friends at home and myself as well,” she told Old Harbour News.

So far her early success has been built under immense pressure. And perhaps the kind, one hopes, that usually produce rare gems. Since her high school days she had to balance sport and academics, a juggling act she continues to do studying real estate and management in the Faculty of Built Environment.

“First let’s say it’s very stressful and you have to be mentally prepared,” she admits on how hard it is to simultaneously focus on both objectives. “The transformation has been very difficult… It is not the first time I have been playing sport and studying because even at netball I use to play club league on Sundays and I also use to train in the weekdays. That has been extremely hard and at the college level where even though you get to pick your own schedule you have to try pick your schedule so you can work around training and studying.”

Since her call-up to the national programme she has to amend that schedule to make room whenever she’s called to the national training which has not made life easier for her.

“The thing is you have to get a lot of rest too [but] the number one thing is you have to have a lot of discipline. And if you don’t have a lot of discipline you’re not going to do well at either,’ she said.

Coupled with that discipline articulated is Jovanna’s desire to improve her game “in such a technical sport”.

“I definitely want to be a better player than what I am now because I’m still in the learning process. I’m learning every day from teammates, coaches,” she said.

Hockey is still classified as a minor sport in Jamaica. There hasn’t been any real growth in the last few decades, yet it continues to unearth young talents like Johnson who is of the opinion that the sport can become popular like football and netball.

“Everybody has to come together to promote the sport a little bit better,” she said.