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Professional Borrajo Joins Hamkam's Promotion Push

September 10, 2010 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Real Maryland Monarchs News Release


The goal of many young American soccer players is to ply their trade in Europe. That was certainly the case for Jonathan Borrajo, who just finished playing his second professional season for Real Maryland in USL-2.

Now, thanks to the help of one of his former teammates, Borrajo is getting his opportunity after joining Norwegian Second Division side Hamarkameratene, also known as HamKam.

"I had the opportunity to play with Kenneth Sola, a Norwegian footballer, who played as a left back at Real Maryland with me this past season," Borrajo said in an e-mail. "He knew I was keen on making a European move this summer and introduced me to his Norwegian based agent via e-mail. I sent him my CV and videos/highlights and pretty much from there the Norwegian agent and his partners did the rest.

"HamKam has recently gone through a lot of injuries and suspensions and needed players for defensive positions. After the agent explained HamKam's situation about how they were fighting for promotion and seeing how much history the club had, it seemed like a great place to go on trial and hopefully earn a contract."

After a college career that saw Borrajo be named to the Colonial Athletic Association's All-Conference second team in 2008, also playing for the New York Red Bulls Academy and the USL Premier Development League's New Jersey Rangers, he became the Monarchs captain in his first professional season. After earning USL-2 First Team honors in 2009, Borrajo played 11 games for the Monarchs this season, building a solid reputation.

"USL-2 allows a player to develop parts of their game that you might not be able to in higher leagues," Borrajo said. "At least in my case with RMFC, I was able to play almost every minute, play my preferred position, and was able to take on more of a leadership role at a young age. And I do think I have improved as a player from each of these things."

Now he is hoping the lessons he learnt in the past two seasons with Maryland will allow him to help his new side to promotion. HamKam was relegated each of the past two seasons, but is closing in on promotion back to the First Division. With a two-point lead at the top of the standings and seven games to play, Borrajo is hoping his side can close out the season strongly.

"I am really enjoying the club and atmosphere around it at the moment," Borrajo said. "HamKam has had a lot of history of playing in the Norwegian Premier League and having international players play for the club, so it's really exciting to be a part of this push for promotion. Training is very intense and each session is geared toward getting the team prepared for promotion.

"There is a positive attitude and great vibe amongst the management, coaching staff, and players which carries from the locker room to the training ground, and to pre-match speeches. The players have a great relationship with the staff here and that has made the transition that much easier for me. The city of Hamar and the HamKam fans have been very welcoming and great to me thus far which makes it all the better."

For more information on Real Maryland FC or its Future Monarch Programs, please visit www.realmaryland.us.

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