Kimika Sanell Forbes (born 26 August 1990) is a Tobagonian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Colombian club Millonarios FC and the Trinidad and Tobago women's national team, which she represents since 2006. Forbes played for Paraguayan club Sportivo Limpeño at the

2016 Copa Libertadores Femenina The 2016 Copa Libertadores Femenina was the eighth edition of the Copa Libertadores Femenina, South America's premier women's club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The tournament was played in Uruguay from 6 to 20 December 2016. In the ...

, which the club went on to win, with Forbes then being shortlisted as

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

Goalkeeper of the Year and also becoming the first Caribbean footballer to win a trophy in CONMEBOL. In the 2017 Liga Femenina, Forbes was the goalkeeper who received the fewest goals against her. Forbes also played for her national team at the Pan American Games in 2011 and 2015. Forbes has a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and is also a Sports Advisor & Video Analyst for Pro Evolution Coaching in Canada. She is the elder sister of

Karyn Forbes Karyn Forbes (born 27 August 1991) is a Tobagonian footballer who plays as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in ...

, also an international footballer.

Club career

College career

Forbes' successful season in the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) Girls' Division in Trinidad earned her a scholarship at the

Monroe Community College Monroe Community College is a public community college in Monroe County, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college has two campuses; the main campus in the town of Brighton, and the Downtown Campus in the City of Ro ...

in New York.

2011

In 2011, Forbes was teammates with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

footballer Mikaela Howell at Munroe Mustangs Women's College.

2012

In 2012, Forbes and Howell remained teammates and were joined by

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n footballer Sandra Zigic in the side.

2013

Forbes attended the University of Maine Fort Kent (UMFK) in 2013 and 2014. In 2013, she won a

United States Collegiate Athletic Association The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/ junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 natio ...

(USCAA) national championship and posted a USCAA-high 14 wins as goalkeeper with an outstanding season.

2014

In 2014, she was awarded Female Athlete of the Year and was also named USCAA First Team All American both years. In 2014 in the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

team, Forbes was in an internationally mixed squad accompanied by Colombian

Melissa Ortiz Melissa Marie Ortiz Matallana (born 24 January 1990) is an American-born Colombian Olympic and professional footballer who plays for the Colombia national team as a striker or attacking midfielder. Early life Ortiz was born in West Palm Beach, ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Suzane Pires,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Nkem Ezurike, Mexican defender Bianca Sierra and

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...

Nikki Washington Madeline Nicole Washington (born August 1, 1988) is an American retired professional soccer forward and right midfielder who last played for Boston Breakers in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and is currently an assistant coach for th ...

, Kim Decesare, Bianca D'Agostino,

Heather O'Reilly Heather Ann O'Reilly (born January 2, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Irish club Shelbourne of the Women's National League. She played for the United States women's national soccer team (USWNT), w ...

Maddy Evans Madlyn Whitney Evans (born April 21, 1991) is an American retired soccer midfielder and defender. Early life Born in Philadelphia and raised in Glenside, Pennsylvania to Grant and Elizabeth Evans, Maddy attended Abington Senior High School whe ...

, Cat Whitehill and Mollie Pathman. Forbes was later inducted into the University of Maine Fort Kent Hall of Fame.

Wave FC

2014/15 season

During the 2014/15 season, Forbes featured for native club Wave FC, along with

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n Maleike Pacheco.

2015/16 season

In the 2015/16 season, she was in the squad with compatriot and future Sportivo Limpeño colleague

Kennya Cordner Kennya Kinda Esther Cordner (born 11 November 1988) is a Tobagonian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Turkey Kadinlar Super Lig club Fenerbahce and the Trinidad and Tobago women's national team. Previously Seattle So ...

Sportivo Limpeño

2016 Paraguayan Women's Championship

In October 2016, Forbes was approached by Sportivo Limpeño after they had seen a video of her best ever performance against USA in the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship. On 4 November 2016, Paraguayan newspaper HOY announced that Forbes, along with Paraguayan midfielder

Dulce Quintana Dulce María Quintana Giménez (born 6 February 1989) is a Paraguayan footballer who plays as a defender for Spanish club SE AEM and the Paraguay women's national team. Club career Quintana spent most of her early career playing for clubs i ...

had signed with Sportivo Limpeño ahead of the

. Forbes integrated into a squad with her compatriot with

, both players became the first two Tobagonian footballers in the country's history to play in Paraguay. Forbes joined from FC Ulindi from a USA University League and arrived in Paraguay without speaking

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. Forbes shared her place in the Sportivo Limpeño squad alongside Paraguayan star

Jessica Martínez Jessica Dahiana Martínez Villagra (born 14 June 1999) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish Liga F club Sevilla FC and the Paraguay women's national team. International career Martínez represented Para ...

. Before going into the 2016 Copa Libertadores Femenina, Forbes became back-to-back Champions with Sportivo Limpeño in winning the 2016 Paraguayan Women's Championship. Sportivo Limpeño had defeated Cerro Porteño 4–2 on aggregate (1–1 and then 3–1) to be crowned champions of Paraguay's Women's Championship, and Limpeño's second consecutive league title.

2016 Copa Libertadores Femenina

In Sportivo Limpeño's opening fixture of the Copa Libertadores Femenina, they defeated Peruvian club Universitario de Deportes 4–0, with Forbes being the number one goal keeper for Limpeño. On 9 December, Forbes featured in Sportivo Limpeño's 3–2 victory against Uruguayan club Colón in their group's second fixture. Sportivo Limpeño finished in first position of their group with 7 points and faced the Brazilian team Foz Cataratas at the semi-final stage of the competition. Limpeño defeated Foz Cataratas 2–0 with Forbes as goalkeeper on 17 December 2016, before advancing to the final where Forbes would play an entire 90 minutes. On 20 December 2016, Forbes kept for Limpeño in a 2–1 victory against Venezuelan side Estudiantes de Guárico, having been losing 1–0. Forbes was then shortlisted as CONCACAF Goalkeeper of the Year. She also became the first Caribbean footballer to win a South American trophy. Forbes was in the starting line up and played in Sportivo Limpeño's agonizing 2–1 victory against Venezuelan club Estudiantes de Guarico in the final of the 2016 Copa Libertadores Femenina in December.

Independiente Santa Fé

2017 Liga Femenina

Following her performance at the 2016 Copa Libertadores Femenina, Colombian club Independiente Santa Fé offered her a one-year contract. Her arrival generated high expectations. By 2017, Forbes still did not speak

but claimed to be able to understand it, did not hesitate to sign with Independiente Santa Fé in Colombia. Amongst her teammates, she did not have anyone with whom she could maintain a fluent conversation in

. Forbes stated in an interview that football in her country was still new and at an initial stage, whilst she had gone to Colombia to play, live the experience, enjoy the opportunity and that it was in Colombia where she could enjoy playing. In February 2017, Forbes was included in a poll of ten players to decide who would be the 2017 Liga Femenina Star Player. Forbes continued to play for her national team whilst playing for Independiente Santa Fé, receiving a call up for friendlies in March 2017, who was part of an undefeated squad in the Liga Femenina at the time. In the 2017 Liga Femenina, Forbes was the goalkeeper who received the fewest goals against her.

2017 Copa Libertadores Femenina

In 2017, Forbes again featured in the Copa Libertadores Femenina for her second consecutive season as Independiente Santa Fé had qualified as champions of the 2017 Liga Femenina as undefeated champions. At Independiente Santa Fé, Forbes was teammates with Venezuelan Oriana Altuve, who was the team's leading goal scorer with 12 goals in the league, and Costa Rican Melissa Herrera. She also shared the goalkeeping duty with Vanessa Córdoba, the daughter of former Boca Juniors goalkeeper Óscar Córdoba. Santa Fé were grouped against her former Paraguayan club Sportivo Limpeño in the tournament, where they faced Bolivian club Deportivo Ita in their opening fixture as Forbes was considered one of the team's references, amongst other players. During late 2017, Forbes signed a contract extension with Santa Fé until May 2018 was sched to travel with the side to face Athletico Bilbao’s women's team in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in December 2017. In Colombia, Forbes was happy that women were included in football and because she felt that her work was being valued. During the 2017 and 2018 Liga Femenina seasons, Forbes was again teammates with

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an player Stephanie Lacoste, with whom she had won the 2016 Copa Libertadores Femenina at Sportivo Limpeño. Following the 2017 season, Forbes signed a contract extension until May 2018.

Millonarios

In 2019, Forbes signed with Colombian club

Millonarios Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium. Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...

and was player with the most experience and history in the squad, having already won the 2016 Copa Libertadores with Sportivo Limpeño and the 2017 Liga Femenina as undefeated champions with Independiente Santa Fé. On 13 June 2019, Kimika and her teammates were presented as the Millonarios Femenine Team at the Torre Empresarial Allianz. In July 2019, Forbes and her team debuted in the Liga Águila Femenina with a victory against Equidad. Forbes conceded the opening goal after an error in the 50th minute before her team came back to win 2–1. In July 2019, Forbes played for Millonarios against Independiente de Santa Fé, her former club, in a 1–1 draw. In the game, fans from Forbs' former club threw insults at her whilst she played for Millonarios.

International career

Forbes received her first call up for the Trinidad and Tabago national team aged 15 for a fixture against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

during the qualifying campaign for the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

to be held in China. She was also the number-one goalkeeper for the Trinidad and Tobago U20 Women's team at the CONCACAF Championships. In October 2011 at the Pan American Games, Forbes completed 270 minutes and played three group stage games as Trinidad & Tabago were eliminated from the Tournament with 1 point. Playing alongside her sister,

Karyn Karyn is an English-language given name and may refer to: *Karyn Bailey (born 1986), Australian netball player in the National Netball League * Karyn Bosnak (born 1974), American author of two published books: ''Save Karyn'' and ''20 Times a Lady' ...

, Forbes kept for her side in a 1–0 loss against Colombia, a 1–1 draw against

, and a 3–0 defeat against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. At the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship in Kansas City, Forbes went on to become a household name in the United States when she held the USA national team, led by Abby Wambach, to just one goal in a nail-biting final, making several saves along the way to keep her team in the game until the very end. Despite the 1–0 loss, Forbes mad nine saves to keep the game close. Forbes' best save of the game came in the 52nd minute, when she stopped Abby Wambach on a breakaway and

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States ...

hit the rebound over the goal. In stoppage time, Forbes again came up big one-on-one, stopping sub

Sydney Leroux Sydney Rae Leroux (; born May 7, 1990) is a professional soccer player and Olympic gold medalist who currently plays as a forward for Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in Canada to a Canadian mother and an Americ ...

with her left leg. Following the game, Trinidad and Tabago coached

Randy Waldrum Randy Marlon Waldrum (born September 25, 1956) is an American former professional soccer player, the current head coach of University of Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team and is the current head coach of the Nigeria women's national team ...

praised Forbes' goalkeeping heroics "She was big-time tonight, wasn’t she? Player of the game for us, for sure. She kept it close and kept us in it. She’s special. She was fantastic tonight. I can’t even describe it in words how many times she came up big for us.” In July 2015 at the Pan American Games, Forbes again was the national team's first choice keeper, completing 270 minutes in 3 group stage games as Trinidad & Tobago were eliminated from the tournament with 2 points. Playing in the Tournament against with her sister Karyn, Forbes kept in a 2–2 draw against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, a 1–1 draw with Colombia, and a 3–1 loss against Mexico. In November 2015, Forbes led her national team to the Caribbean Gold Medal in the first round of Olympic Qualifying. Forbes impeded Puerto Rico in the Championship game 1–0 and also posted three other victories in the Championship. On 4 October 2018, Forbes kept for her national team in a 3–0 defeat against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

in their first fixture of the CONCACAF Female Championship. In October 2018, Forbes kept for Trinidad and Tobago in a 4–1 defeat against Mexico during the CONCACAF Qualifiers for the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Honours

Club

Sportivo Limpeño Sportivo may refer to: * Toyota Aurion Sportivo The Toyota Aurion is a mid-size car produced by Toyota in Australia and parts of Asia from 2006 to 2017. In the two generations it was produced, the Aurion was derived from the equivalent Camry ...

Paraguayan women's football championship Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Copa Libertadores Femenina The CONMEBOL Libertadores Femenina, named as "Copa Libertadores Femenina" ( pt, Copa Libertadores Feminina or Taça Libertadores Feminina) is an annual international women's association football club competition in South America. It is organized by ...

Independiente Santa Fé * Liga Femenina:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Individual * First Caribbean to win the

Personal life and education

Forbes is from

Plymouth, Tobago Plymouth is a village on the north-west coast of the island of Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the mai ...

. Forbes prefers that people call her by the name Kimi. Forbes followed the careers and the saves of

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goalkeeper

Manuel Neuer Manuel Peter Neuer (; born 27 March 1986) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains both club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the ...

and

an goalkeeper

Claudio Bravo Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (; born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Chile national team. He started playing with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Sociedad ...

, stating that the former is a complete goalkeeper and that latter is an example of whom she wants to be. Forbes is also an admirer of

Hope Solo Hope Amelia Stevens (; born July 30, 1981) is an American former soccer goalkeeper. She was a goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, and is a World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Afte ...

Almuth Schult Almuth Schult (; born 9 February 1991) is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper the Germany national team and is currently a free agent. Club career At the age of five, Schult began her career at her local football club FC SG Gartow, be ...

and Iker Casillas.

Academics

She was awarded two academic scholarships, her alma mater is

, New York and the University of Maine Fort Kent (UMFK). In 2014, she graduated with an associate degree in general studies. In 2016, Forbes completed a Bachelor of Arts and sciences degree. Forbes possesses a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and she has also been on the Dean's List every semester since enrolling at UMFK. By 2017, Forbes almost could not speak in the

Spanish Language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

but began dominating it. In 2018, Forbes was inducted into the UMFK's Hall of Fame.

Leadership

In 2017, Forbes praised Colombia's Liga Profesional and that it was recognizing the part for women in football. In 2017, Forbes had prepared to launch an academy for goal keepers in Trinidad & Tobago, whilst she would also run women's football events whenever she returned. In 2017, Forbes served as assistant coach for the Signal Hill Secondary Girls team during latter stages of the 2017 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) season upon returning home at the conclusion of the Colombian Liga Femenina season. In 2017, Forbes commented in an interview with Futbolred in Colombia, that after the 2017 season she hoped to continue to her country with an organization in defence of women that suffer abuse.

References

External links

*
Kimika Forbes
at the

University of Maine at Fort Kent The University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMaine Fort Kent or UMFK) (French language, French: ''Université du Maine à Fort Kent)'' is a public college in Fort Kent, Maine. It is the northernmost campus of the University of Maine System. It is an a ...

* * *
Kimika Forbes
at playmakerstats.com (English version of ogol.com.br)
Kimika Forbes
at

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