Dami aims high after England call-up

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Olivia Jackson

2025-11-26T07:00+00:00

Dami Atinaro will be representing England's U20s during the international break. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Academy player Dami Atinaro grew up watching Albion in the WSL and one day hopes to play in the competition herself.

In the week that she was called into the England WU20 squad for the first time, left-back Dami talked about how she became part of our academy.

“I have always been a sporty child," she said. "I loved football but they didn’t have a girls’ team when I was in primary school, so I had to convince my best friend to join the boys’ team with me. After one session I loved it and started searching for local teams.

“I joined my local club Oakwood in Crawley, and I grew up watching Albion as they also played in the town so it was local and accessible.”

The 17-year-old defender admires players such as Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and Albion captain Maisie Symonds.

“I look up to players like them," she added. "Maisie is a friendly, kind person who is always checking in with the academy players and starting conversations. It is great to see someone so young captain Albion and doing it so well.”

Albion’s academy and senior team share a building at the American Express Elite Performance Centre, forming relationships every day. The academy players are around the first team on a regular basis.

Dami in action against Ajax earlier this season. 📷James Boardman

“It is really good for us to have such a similar schedule. We get a glimpse of what we are all striving for as academy players and want to achieve in the future," said Dami. “All the first-team players are friendly, and are happy to answer any questions we may have. I talk to Aisha (Masaka) a lot.

“They always give us words of wisdom and encouragement which is great. It is more reassuring hearing from them as they have been through what we are currently experiencing. They know exactly what it is like and that is helpful.”

Dami's next goal is to make the bench for a senior game.

“I want to continue to improve my technical side and train with the first team whenever I can," she added. "Hopefully I can make the squad because being involved in these fixtures, even if it is only on the bench, would be a big achievement at my age. I'm taking it step by step but it's something I would love to do in the future.”