Photo courtesy of Facebook

By David L. Snelling

Haitian American female soccer player Melchie Daelle Dumornay just kicked her way to history.

The 22-year-old all-star became the first Haitian athlete in history to win the Arkema Premier League’s Best Player of the Year for the 2025-2026 season in Europe.

Earning the moniker “Corventina,” Dumornay’s career is thriving as a midfielder for the Olympique Lyonnais Feminin in Paris, France, and the Haiti’s women’s national team.

During the 2025-2026 season in the Arkema Premiere Ligue, the 5’3 nimble Dumornay delivered a stellar performance by scoring four goals and dishing out seven assists in 15 games.

She started 10 of those games.

According to her teammates and coaches, her creativity, dribbling mastery, and ability to dictate play were instrumental in Lyon’s domestic success, including a Coupe de la Ligue title.

She also earned selection to the league’s Team of the Year.⁠
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Her impact shone brightly in the UEFA Women’s Champions League as well, where her performances further cemented her status as one of the world’s elite young talents. At just 22, she has already helped Lyon secure multiple domestic titles, a Coupe de France, and deep European runs since her permanent arrival in 2023.⁠
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Dumornay set her sights on becoming an international soccer player when she was kids growing up in Haiti.

In fact, it was her upbringing that drove her to success on the international soccer stage.

Raised by a single mother, Dumornay began playing football with her three brothers and their friends in the streets of Mirebalais.

At just 10 years-old, recreational soccer coach Jean-Claude Josaphat spotted her talent and brought her to Camp Nous, Haiti’s national youth training center.

She later joined AS Tigresses, where she made an impact.

In the 2018 Haitian Women’s Soccer Championship final, she scored all five goals in a 5–2 win, becoming the league’s top scorer and Best Player at just 15

Her performances at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2018 caught the attention of French clubs, including Reims and Lyon.

This UNFP win adds to her growing list of trailblazing accomplishments:⁠
– Leading Haiti to their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023.⁠
– Back-to-back CONCACAF Women’s Player of the Year honors.⁠
– Multiple UEFA Women’s Champions League Young Player of the Season awards.⁠
– First Haitian to reach the top 5 in major global awards like Globe Soccer.⁠

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