News & EventsLatest NewsCalendar
Swifts Girls launch Mentoring Initiative

Swifts Girls launch Mentoring Initiative

Iwan Davies11 Oct 2017 - 21:26
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.jeanfieldswifts.co

Jeanfield Girls has started an innovative scheme to support its future stars as they begin their representative careers.

It's all about giving the girls confidence to express themselves.
- Jason McCrindle

When a player is selected for a regional or national camp or squad, a mixture of emotions come into play – after the initial elation can come feelings of anxiety or trepidation, especially when moving into an unknown environment or dealing with new coaches asking new questions. And when the players concerned are young they often don’t know where to turn for help.

Jeanfield Swifts Girls FC has responded to this situation by launching a new mentoring initiative, in which one of the club’s current Ladies players will mentor youth performance players as they move from regional squads to national squads and attend squad camps.

The club’s first performance player mentor is Rebecca Foote, who herself has been involved with Scotland squads at youth level and knows what it is like to be the new face in camp.
Rebecca will liaise with club, regional and national squad coaches to ensure that valuable feedback is shared and acted on, so that the performance players can work to improve their chances of selection in the future.

Ladies manager Jason McCrindle is enthusiastic about the new initiative, "this is all about giving the girls confidence so that they feel comfortable when they join the national setup and can express themselves. Rebecca is a great person to be our first mentor and I'm sure the girls will benefit from her support."

The first three players to benefit from this innovative scheme are 13 year-olds Abbie Ferguson and Eilidh Davies and 14 year-old Kaitlyn Doig, who have all participated in recent Scotland U15 camps. Rebecca will work with them to understand the feedback they have received from camp and develop plans to work on the areas identified by their national and regional coaches. Her work will complement the regular training the girls do with their U15 and U17 team coaches, which will continue to be squad-focused from week to week during the season.

Further reading