Haitian footballer Melchie Dumornay on her goals for life
Haiti has a final chance to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 vying with nine other teams at a play-off tournament in New Zealand starting 18 February for one of three available berths, and the highly rated teen will be at their heart.
Football
“A new challenge awaits me,” posted Haitian footballer, Melchie Dumornay on social media in mid-January.
Come season’s end, the teenager will start a new chapter in her burgeoning career, signing for the leading club in the women’s game, Olympique Lyonnais Féminin.
The contract starts on 1 July but before then, the highly rated 19-year-old will finish the season at the club that offered her a first-ever professional contract and made her childhood dream of playing football for a living come true.
Melchie Dumornay aims high
Despite clamorous offers from other big clubs in the women’s game – from the US, UK and beyond – Dumornay chose French side, Stade de Reims for her first foray out of Haiti, a club noted for nurturing young talent while also providing valuable experience in one of Europe’s top leagues, Division 1 Féminine. The side are one of the 12 founding members and came a creditable seventh last season.
A friendly face also welcomed Dumornay to the squad; compatriot and close friend, Kethna Louis, who provided a familiarity from home when both are far from it. Dumornay settled quickly, providing two assists in a league game against Issy, coming on in the second half with the score at 1-1. The final score, thanks to Dumornay’s input, was 3-1 to Reims.
Head coach Amandine Miquel believes this rapid adaptation to playing in another country was due to one simple reason: “Because she's way better than the other players,” she told football website Goal in March. “I think she's at 30 per cent of her level right now. For me, this is going to be one of the best players in the world in the next few years.”
The same month Miquel made those comments, Dumornay topped the NXGN women’s list – which rates the world's best teenage footballers – for the first time after two previous fifth places.
Women’s World Cup goal
Awards are not new to the teen, at club or international level. At CONCACAF’s Women’s Under-17 Championship in 2018, which includes nations from North and Central America and the Caribbean, Dumornay claimed the competition's golden ball and also made the championship’s best XI. The golden boot for top scorer was won in the under-20 edition in 2020, while Dumornay again made the best XI, this time in the senior championship in 2022 where she was also named best young player.
The midfielder also helped Haiti become the first-ever Caribbean nation to qualify for the U20 World Cup and will no doubt be at the forefront of Haiti’s challenge for a first FIFA Women’s World Cup place via a play-off tournament taking place in New Zealand from February 18-23.
Competing against nine other teams for one of three remaining Australia and New Zealand 2023 World Cup berths, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Cameroon, Senegal, Panama, Paraguay, Chile, Papua New Guinea and Portugal join Haiti in the mix for the hallowed place, with all hoping to make it to the highly anticipated tournament taking place from 20 July to 20 August.
Onwards and upwards
Heading to Lyon is another step in Dumornay’s progression. She’ll be joining the likes of Ada Hegerberg, the first Ballon d'Or Féminin winner in history, in 2018, and experienced captain, Wendie Renard, a two-time Olympian and one of three players to have won all eight of the club’s Champions League titles.
Renowned for setting the standard for women’s football not only in results but also in the game's development, Dumornay is keen to follow in the illustrious boots of Lyon alumnae such as Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan of the United States, but she also wants to be a role model herself, for the next generation of Haiti players.
“I want to be able to open an academy back home in Haiti to provide opportunities to players that I didn't have myself,” she told Goal.
“Just providing a better environment to the next Haitian talents. I hope to be able to help more players like me come to Europe and just make Haiti a good place to play football overall, for both girls and boys.”
Still just a teen but with the world at her feet, a quote shared on Dumorany’s social media feed sums up the Haitian perfectly:
“The goal of life is not the hope to become perfect, but the will to always be better.”
- The Play-Off Tournament for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 takes place between 18 and 23 February in Hamilton/Kirikiriroa and Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau. Click here for details on how to watch the livestream on FIFA+.