A teenage US goal-scoring record setter with roots in Bermuda is waiting to hear if she has been selected to play for the Bermuda national women's football squad when it travels to Greece later this month.

Jasmin Johansen is only 17, but the soccer jersey she wore at Boston's Woodward School for Girls has been officially retired and hung on a "wall of fame" to commemorate her exploits with the varsity team where she scored 104 goals, 15 more than anyone in the school's 112-year history.

That prowess caught the imagination of newspaper writers with articles headlined "Jasmin Johansen Something Special" and "Johansen Breaks Woodward Scoring Record" and led to her being featured in The Royal Gazette in January.

She has been given support and tips from one of her Bermudian footballing heroes, Khano Smith, and hopes to see the New England Revolution star when his team faces David Beckham's LA Galaxy this year.

Over the past few days she has been going through her paces with the rest of the Bermuda national women's team in training and hopes she has done enough to justify a place in the squad that heads for the Small Island Games in Rhodes at the end of the month to face Guernsey and the Western Islands in the first round.

While Johansen waits this weekend to find out if a national call-up will become a reality or not, she and her father/coach William Johansen reflected on what has brought the teenager to the threshold of the international scene.

From the age of four she played football with her father, who in his younger days captained North Village Football Club, acting as training buddy and assistant coach. That relationship has been maintained throughout Johansen's career.

Things really took off when the youngster became a pupil at Woodward School in the city of Quincy, Massachusetts. It was there that she set a record goal-scoring tally of 104, with 64 assists, to reach a career points total of 168. The previous highest number of goals scored for the Woodward School varsity team was 89.

Team coach Bob Giordano does not believe that record will ever be surpassed. Johansen's number five jersey has been retired, framed and hung on a wall of honour.

Despite that illustrious achievement Johansen's primary focus is on academic achievement rather than pursuing a professional football career. But as she points out when she graduates from Atlanta's Spelman College, with a degree likely to feature a business slant, she will still not have reached her 21st birthday leaving her sporting options open.

"My main priority is with school. I know how competitive it is to go professional in the sport," explained Johansen. "I'm still going to play soccer, but I also want to have a career."

Women's football is a bigger deal in North America than Europe. One reason for that is the success of the USA women's team, which won the Women's World Cup in 1991 and 1999.

Not surprisingly the USA team's now retired top scorer Mia Hamm is another player Johansen admires.

When she trained with the Bermuda team this week one difference she immediately encountered was the different squad formation, a more "British" 4-4-2 configuration instead of the 4-3-3 she is used to in the US.

She said: "It was my first time meeting the team. All the girls were nice and they knew about me because my dad had already mentioned me to them."

Her father contacted the coaches to see if there might be an opportunity for his daughter to join the team in training. The possibility of representing Bermuda is open to Johansen as both her father and mother Jerilyn are Bermudian and previously lived at Town Hill, Flatts.

Johansen normally plays on the right wing. Her turn of speed makes her a tricky player for opponents to counteract.

While training with the national team she has been tried out in a number of positions.

National team manager Vance Brown said: "Her goal-scoring feats show her potential. We have a relatively young team and she fits that criteria.

"She has had two training sessions and we've tried her playing in different positions. We need a team of well-rounded players."

The final team selection is expected to be made over the weekend.

One of Johansen's qualities, commented upon by others, is her humble attitude despite her achievements. She is quick to shift praise for her goal-scoring record to the assistance of her team-mates through her school years.

As proud as he is of his daughter's football achievements, it is the academic accomplishments of Johansen and her older brother William Randolph Jr. that father Mr. Johansen says are most important.

Of his daughter, he added: "She has shown grace and character and it makes me feel good to know that people speak well of her and that she is an example to others."

Goal machine Johansen