Women in Football - Mentoring

Well, I've spoken about my affiliation with the 'Women in Football' before. It's a fantastic organisation, and an absolute must for any female's wishing to enter the world of football - on any level.

We were hosted by 'The Premier League', in their wonderful office just off 'Marble Arch'. The street a plush line of Georgian white washed buildings, with a couple of 5 star hotels thrown in for good measure. After smiling nicely at the camera on the front door, we entered a very modern building with iconic images and memorabilia on the wall. After signing in we were taken to a lobby area downstairs to await our meeting. A very nice greeting of aperitifs allowed us to to meet and greet others attending and have a chat before the event started.

We were then ushered into the presentation suite where Shelley opened the event and introduced the speakers. This evening was all about mentors / mentoring. Women in Football are so progressive in their thinking, and as an organisation are prepared to 'give it go', give things a chance and go outside the box. They introduced a trial mentoring scheme last year - for fifteen personnel from different areas within football;

The Mentee's were at various stages within their chosen career, ranging from top coaches, to management within a premiership club. The Mentors however were all from outside football, and in top tier companies such as Deloitte. Initially I thought wow, how is that going to work - however, listening to the ladies that were on the trial, and the people who providing the mentoring, it absolutely worked. The mentors had no pre-concieved idea's about either football, or women in football. The mentors had nothing to do with football, so treated the women as though a business in their own right;

• How were they going to progress
• What were their skills
• What made them different
• What was currently holding them back

All the women found the scheme a success, some had progressed within their area, others had changed their outlook, their styles their confidence. one had realised that she was in the wrong area and had changed her job role completely. Everyone of them was so happy with their involvement, and in fact every Mentor had also benefited immensely and was looking forward to mentoring again. 

I am going to apply for the scheme this year. The possibility of a top company executive, with so much expertise and knowledge allowing me to meet with them on a 'one to one' basis, to advise me and help me progress - No Brainer!!!! 

I want to be successful, but know that I need to have advise to help me through the mine-field of progression. I am a total advocate of 'Women in FOOTBALL', and would advise others to have a look at the organisation.

Back to Normal Jogging

Well, after injuring myself Christmas week, it's finally back to normal!

I've taken 6 weeks off refereeing and playing, but during that time I needed to really think about my body, my injury and my positivity. It's easy to let something be an excuse to not do anything, to take a pain killer, take the sickness from work, and not progress. It was about having goals, planning my next stage, and keeping my attitude on point.

The first week was very sore, and I was still wandering around on my crutches. It was also Christmas week, which also put a stop on my planned partying - Although I still managed the evening events, but couldn't go to town. I guess that at least kept my nutrition  in a better state, and allowed me to get in my beauty sleep.

I only stayed on crutches for a week - For a start it's hideous on the hands. I tended to really lean into the crutch, which caused blisters. So the crutches were relegated to 'Under the Stairs'. That second week I started going to the swimming pool, not for a swim but to do rehabilitation exercises; The swimming pool is a great place to start after an injury - the weightlessness really eases the soreness of movement, and the freedom you have in the pool allows you to do stretches and exercises that are proving somewhat difficult on dry land.

The other Gem in those first couple of weeks was 'Pilates'. I've never been a fan of Pilates, Yoga, body balance etc - they always seemed such slow classes; in my mind I would be thinking 'Blimey, I could have run 8 miles by now, whilst tapping my hands annoyingly'. Well, although not my first choice still, the classes are a god-send and absolutely allow you to really stretch those muscles, and build up your core.

About three weeks ago I started getting out and about running. I started with a 2 mile jog for a few days, and built it up to doing an 8 mile run in the week before doing my first game. I'm doing a month of running the line before going back in the middle in March. I've also only played twenty minutes of a proper game, but again, I should be back to playing the full 90 by March

Where there's a will, there's a way!!!