When I got placed in the UK there were a lot of things that I was excited about; fish and chips, being in England, the accents, the ease of traveling to other places, and football. Before I accepted my placement at St. Thomas, I had a skype chat with Ali, Sue, and Jeremy. I expressed an interest in getting involved in football at some level in the community during our conversation, and one of my questions towards the end was how women were respected in leadership roles in the church. The response I got was, “Well it’s more common to see a female in the church than on the football pitch.” This answer was reassuring in relation to my position in the church and seemed a little like a challenge when it came to my love for football. Well everything I could’ve ever wanted out of football in Wigan, playing, coaching, and watching, all came in to “play” this week.
On Monday I found out that I will be coaching the football team at St. Thomas Primary School. I’m not exactly sure yet how the league works, but it is a co-ed team, though the majority will be boys, and they start to play games in the spring. We will start training in a few weeks, and I will officially be a manager – sounds a bit better than “coach.” It will be interesting coaching boys, and I’m sure there will be some good stories to tell once that starts up.
Early last week I emailed the Wigan Athletics Ladies team to see if I could train or play with them. When I hadn’t heard from them by Monday, I did what any persistent person would do and I called. The beginning of the conversation was a bit awkward because I didn’t know exactly where to start, so I just said, “Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m from America.” At this point the lady I talked to remembered me from my email and she apologized for not getting back – there had been an issue with her email account. She invited me to training on Thursday night. The women on the team are of all ages and from how I understand it, this team is like two divisions down from the professional level of Women’s soccer in England. I’m still learning how it all works though.
On Thursday Alyson, my host mom, dropped me off at practice. It was very reminiscent of my days going to practice out at MESA (the soccer complex I played at growing up in Greenville), and having the good ole carpool. Alyson even drives a van. Once there, I met the coach and the assistant coach who then introduced me to some of the players. They were all very nice, but their welcoming was the only thing that was warm about the evening. It was freezing at practice, with the wind blowing and it starting to rain just enough to be annoying. The girls on the team were very interested in why I was in England for a year, as are most people, and where I was from. They all gave me a hard time about the weather and how I was going to freeze this season. The practice went really well, and I was just ecstatic afterwards. Being back and playing made me realize how much I had truly missed it. At the end of practice I talked with the coach. He invited me to their game on Sunday, and training the next week. A few of the girls got my number and were saying how they needed to have some team bonding so I could get to know everyone. It was really great to meet some people outside of my placement that were my own age. I think this is going to pan out to be a really great experience. My host dad, John is thrilled that I am getting involved with this team. He said I needed to meet people out of the church “bubble,” and I completely agree.
The high I felt from Thursday carried over till Saturday when I went to a youth football match. One of the families that I have grown to know and love in the congregation has four children. The second oldest, Ty (8 yrs old), had a game Saturday morning. It was windy, rainy, and cold (story of my life here) but such a blast. You could just see the joy of playing in these kids faces. Ty’s team had yet to win a game this season, I believe they had 3 matches before this one, but they came away with their first victory on Saturday! Ty scored the lone goal of the game, and had a fantastic celebration that followed. You could tell he’d been watching the professional games from the way he jumped in the air, pumped his fist, and slid on the ground for all his teammates to come hug. On the way home from the game Ty informed me that I must be their good luck charm and had to come to his next match this coming Saturday. He didn’t have to twist my arm at all – of course I’m going!
I was home long enough to eat lunch before I got picked up to go to the Wigan Athletic’s game versus Tottenham. I went to the game with Mark. His girlfriend, Jilly, goes to St. Thomas and we’ve all become good friends. He and his dad have season tickets, but his dad was on holiday, so Mark asked a few weeks ago if I’d like to go. I said I had to double check my schedule, but that was really so I didn’t overwhelm him with my excitement immediately about going. I was so thrilled to go to my first premier league game even though everyone I told tried to pop my bubble and say “you know it’s just Wigan, they’re going to lose.” Well I refused to be a negative Nancy about the game, and I was still excited. They played horribly in the first half, complete rubbish, and were down 2-0, but they came back in the second half and made it a really exciting game to watch. They did end up losing 2-1 but I still prefer to be a positive Patricia and will support the Latics win or lose! I mean I have to, they are my home team.
My football filled week concluded by going to the Wigan Ladies match today. It was really nice to be there, and feel like a part of the team, even though officially I’m not. I wasn’t able to play today, but I was there for a majority of their warm-up, and I was able to at least nock a few balls around. They ended up with a draw 1-1, but definitely had chances to put the game away and win. I will be practicing with them again this week. Again, I’m not sure what will come of this, but I am hopeful for an outlet for myself as far as playing and in the social aspect as well.
So it seems that every week from now on will have its fill of football, which I will love, but onto another football, American football. I’ve been asked recently what I miss the most so far, and to be honest, don’t judge, my answer has been American football. I miss the tailgating, the excitement of Death Valley, the Saturdays and Sundays where you swear you’re going to get work done but really you just end up sitting in front of the TV watching game after game not caring who is playing, going home Sunday afternoons for brats and a Packers game with my dad, and texting my brother Jacob pictures from the Clemson games. September just hasn't been the same without American football. And don’t worry Jonathan, and all you Kentucky fans, my blood still runs blue, but I’ll wait till January to start missing my Wildcats.
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