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if it was within reason and affordability, then I would be happy to let them try!” Recounting how Pauline would take the players for pizza and provide rides for teammates, Eilidh goes so far as to name her mother the “ultimate team mom.” “She just latched on to this opportunity I had and it became something we did together,” she recalled. Eilidh adds her No. One fan never overstepped her bounds. “My mother was silent on the sidelines. She knew that wasn’t her role. She gives me hope that there are people like that still out there.”
Off to America
At 16, Eilidh was selected to play for the Hamilton Academicals Football Club, one of Scotland’s top teams. With practices four nights a week, and games on weekends, she quickly grew close to her teammates, forming an especially close-knit bond with four: Lynsey Hogg, Lesley Scanlan, Elaine Fleming and Jen King. Recalling her four years with the Hamilton team, there’s a brief moment when Eilidh sounds like a sorority girl missing college. “They’re my sisters,” she said. “We socialized together, we trained together, we went to the movies together, we watched games together. As a group, we were pretty inseparable.” Like Pauline, Lynsey — who still plays for the HAFC — says Eilidh has always had an ironclad resolve. “The grit and winning mentality that she possessed ensured that she was always a vital member of any team,” she praised. Today, when Eilidh visits Hamilton, she still attends the HAFC games to show her support. Lynsey even recalls
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Bloom
Spring 2014
Respected for her fervor on and off the field, Eilidh Thompson is also known for her navy blue track suit and penchant for fast food.
one instance when, due to a few team members being unable to participate, Eilidh was unexpectedly asked to play. Though she had to “beg, borrow and steal” the proper athletic gear, Lynsey said Eilidh came through for the team. “She ran after every ball, chased every opponent and refused to give up, even when the legs were telling her she couldn’t continue anymore,” recalled Lynsey. “I think this … sums Eilidh up perfectly, not just as a player but as a person.” As a teen, Eilidh was also selected to play for the Scottish National Team, representing her nation in the European Championship.
“It was amazing to represent your country,” she added. Despite Eilidh’s fierceness on the field, she never planned on remaining a player. Fascinated by the ability of sports to alter the lives of young people — be it physically, emotionally or in some cases, financially — she says she “always knew” she wanted to coach. “I believe that I have an ability to really help shape kids; their character, their ability to lead or work with a team,” she said. “The ability to grow little human beings, that’s why I want to work with little kids, and I just fortunately can do that job through the vehicle of soccer.” Eilidh built up her coach-
ing skills at the University of Paisley, where she earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in sport studies and coaching development in 2005. After graduating, the then 20-yearold accepted a job offer from a youth soccer club in New Jersey, packed up her bags and headed stateside. According to Eilidh, the United States offers some of the best opportunities for women’s soccer, so she reasoned a move across the pond would be best for her long-term career goals. One might think moving to a new nation would involve a certain degree of nail biting or sleepless nights, but that’s just not Eilidh’s style. The self-described “independent” woman says it was tough to leave loved ones, but she didn’t second guess her decision. Nor did anyone ask her to. According to Pauline, everyone was happy her daughter was “going to live her dream.” “It is not as it once was, in days gone by, when someone emigrated [and] you never expected to see them again,” Pauline points out, adding that they visit a few times a year, in addition to exchanging frequent emails and calls. Eilidh admits, a bit reluctantly, to shedding a few tears during the flight over, but says she was mostly excited. “When the plane landed, I just picked up and I was ready to get straight into work,” she remarked. Of course, that’s not to say she doesn’t take pride in her roots. Calling her homeland a “beautiful country with very hardworking people,” she says she’ll always root for Scottish soccer teams and love hearing the national anthem. “But I also love the USA,” she continued. “And this is where I want to live for the rest of my life.”