Dinnington Town Football Club's defender, Jay Atkin, is set for a short break from his Black Dragon Premier Division North commitments after a Seychelles International Call-up.
Instead of gracing the Phoenix Park pitch in South Yorkshire, Jay will be jetting off to the idyllic Seychelles to kick-start his international football career.
The Seychelles National team has a comprehensive two-week training camp in anticipation of their World Cup qualifying clashes next month.
Jay's impressive performances with Dinnington haven't gone unnoticed. After monitoring the defender for several months, the Seychelles' coaching staff have called him up for the training camp.
If Jay manages to secure his place post the rigorous training camp, he could be potentially squaring off against the Ivory Coast. Football aficionados would instantly recognise Ivory Coast's talismanic figure, Wilfried Zaha, formerly of Manchester United, Crystal Palace and currently playing for Turkish Süper Lig side Galatasaray.
The seeds for Jay's international aspirations were sown during the unsettling Covid era. Exploring opportunities beyond domestic shores, he reached out to the Seychelles Football Federation.
They were impressed with the online footage of Jay's outings, helped organise dual nationality process, which has lead to his current call-up for the prestigious World Cup training camp in October ahead of the World Cup Qualifying games.
Reflecting on this achievement, Jay said: "It's mental. It's all moved so fast. I'm just going in and expecting it to be a high standard. I've watched a couple of games. It's always different watching on tele but to be fair it looked a decent standard to me.”
Everybody at Dinnington Town Football Club wishes Jay the best and we’ll see you back at Phoenix Park soon.
Good luck Jay!