Khadija Shaw unfazed by attention

National senior women's football team ace striker, Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw, says she is unfazed by the amount of attention she has received during, and since helping Jamaica qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup in October. The 22-year-old does not expect it to affect her performance in France next month.

She says that the attention is a result of the hard work she has put in and her focus is always to do the best for herself and usually and that works out to make everyone else happy.

"When you work hard and give of your best, that is going to happen," she told STAR Sports. "A lot of people ask if it's hard, but soccer in general is hard, everything you do in life is hard, so I don't really focus on what is outside of soccer. I tell myself that I have goals and objectives I want to achieve in the game, so I block out everything and when I go out, I try to execute the goals I set for myself."

The former St Jago star, who recently graduated the University of Tennessee, is aware the Jamaican public has high expectations of her, but her only focus is on her game and that is the secret to her success on the field.

"If I focus on the public, I am going to feel uncomfortable within myself, so I will do what I have to do first, and worry about the public later. I try to please myself, so if I go out and put out the effort and do my best, it will come to me," she continued.

The Girlz return to camp after more than a month and coach Hue Menzies was pleased to see a highly motivated Shaw leading the charge in the physical training at the end of a session held at the National Stadium last night.

"We saw some players stepping up in the fitness and it was nice to see the big unit (Shaw) showing a good example of what we are all about," Menzies commented.

Shaw also believes it is important to keep their fitness and work rate high, even out of camp.

"There isn't a lot of times when you come into camp, so it's what you do outside of camp," she said. "You got to run and do what you have to do, so that when you come to camp you're ready and can do what it takes to get going.

"But we haven't had a camp in like a month since we left South Africa, and during that month, I graduated from Tennessee, but while I was doing my studies, I had put in my little two hours or hour and a half, because I want to know that in the 90th minute I can be still be with it. So in order for me to do that, I have to do the work on and off the field," she said.