So it’s the last week of the blog and due to weather circumstances our training and match had been cancelled. Fantastic. With this outcome, we hadn’t realised that now our football season was finished and there would be no more fixtures to play.

I then had to figure out what I wanted to document on this week’s blog post. With many routes that I could take, I thought I would combine my experiences of football with some of the issues I’ve faced through these years.

Since a young age, even at the lower levels of grassroot games, I could still sense the inequalities from our treatment. Pitches, equipment and communication were all of the lowest quality. These issues still continued at the higher values such as for my Borough, County and even now at University. The coaching and treatment of our time always felt slightly like a inconvenience and let’s not mention some comments that were made by boys or watchers on the side line, ‘you’re good for a girl I guess’ always stayed with me. Judgement and comparisons that were made between the boys and girls teams was the aspect I hated the most. Since the sensational win of the Women’s Euro’s, improvements have claimed to be made, especially with the Government grant. However, social and cultural factors such as the comments and presumptions I doubt will ever be able to leave women’s football.

Check out my Gallery for some pictures throughout the years!

This week is quite contrasting to my last blog post. From riding on the adrenaline from our last derby game, I arrived with good expectations to training. Without our coach attending we tried to organise ourselves officially and trust me, trying to learn a whole new formation and style alone was not our best idea. We tried to adapt to a pressing style, meaning as soon as the opposing team have the ball we all would immediately push forward as a team to each of their players. Basically, a lot of running that I was not prepared for. As we arrived on Wednesday for our 13:00 kick off I wasn’t filled with spirit, no goalkeeper, new tactic, no experience.

Sussex 2nd’s arrive and we start pressing. 1-0 to them. 2-0 to them. 3-0 to them. We’ve had better halves. The pressing had worked, for a moment. It caused frustration throughout the team, especially me who felt I had given everything I could and here we are, Loosing the game 4-0. That’s how it ended, those 3 point lost took us out of the title race with 1 game left. I left angry, knowing if we didn’t have our Beer Olympics social that night, I probably would have pondered on this for a quite a while.

Well, what a first week for the blog! The week started off quietly, training started on Tuesday night, and we had combined with Brighton Women’s 1st team. Our teams joining led me to start doubting my own skills by comparing myself to them, I constantly must remember this is a hobby and not a job, something I enjoy and not forced to do. It did however make me step up my game. Wednesday was match day, playing against Sussex’s 3rd team at home with only 12 players, not a great start. Even after playing for 13 years, I still have this sense of nerves as I wait for the whistle, knowing this is no Champions League Final makes it even funnier to me, why would I worry about 90 minutes of my life? But the whistle goes and there’s no time to wonder. Playing CDM (Central Defensive Midfielder) allows me to connect all players and not worrying too much about scoring, thankfully! But with our corner crossing in I scored my very first header in the top corner, immediately jumping for joy. I had not been prouder. I would say for the first introduction to my hobby a 5-0 win, a header scored and an assist – it hasn’t been that bad!

(Pictured moment)

The sport of Football has consumed my life since I first kicked a ball at the age of 6. Since then, if my estimate is correct, I have attended over 2191 training sessions and played 910 games. Captaining 4 different clubs, playing for my county (Essex) and now for the University I have had many proud moments from the sport. However, in 2019 after our first time winning our league, my team decided to take a break from Football. Without constant routine of physical activity I gained weight, struggled with my mental health and lost an aspect of my life.

Since joining University, I realised I needed to start fresh and in doing so I decided to join the Brighton football team. This blog will follow my journey of falling back in love with the sport, documenting training, games and getting my health back together. I hope you enjoy!