EUWAFC Community and Alumni Newsletter - 2020-2021 Semester 1

SEMESTER ONE 2021

EUWAFC

COMMUNITY AND ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

A PRESIDENT'S WELCOME Cecilia Bosman - President

IN THIS ISSUE

Despite the challenges that COVID-19 has presented, this

RETROSPECT: A LOOK

year truly has shown how everyone from all over the

BACK AT SUMMER 2020

club has come together as a family to support each other, and it has also been one of the biggest years for club development. From finally establishing our fourth

BEING A FIRST YEAR

team as a competitive team to having a Sunday League team in the pipeline and advancing our efforts in our

STUDENT DURING A

community engagement, everyone has been giving their

GLOBAL PANDEMIC

all to continue to grow our legacy. We have expanded across all aspects of the club, and I would like to welcome all our new players and our new coaches Asad, Stephen and Stuart to EUWAFC!

COACHES AND CAPTAINS ROUND UP

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING

CLUB DEVELOPMENT

RETROSPECT: A LOOK BACK AT SUMMER 2020 Molly McGregor - Co-Vice President Instead of packing for summer tour, EUWAFC was seen packing up for a Summer in Lockdown. Despite missing some key moments of the year, we still managed to stay connected as a club through Zoom socials and team challenges.

The annual End of Season Ball and awards ceremony was held on Zoom and gave us the opportunity to check in with club members, alumni and coaches. Linda Martetschlaeger, Meg Gower, Cecilia Bosman, Fiona Graham and Eleanor Wolfe were awarded a 'Services to the Club Award' to recognise their dedication and commitment. Additionally, Molly Simmons and Derek Nelson were awarded with the very special 'Outstanding Services to the Club Award.' This recognises the highest level of dedication and commitment to the success of EUWAFC.

Meg Gower and Katie Macdonald organised a Scottish Coastline Marathon and smashed our fundraising target, raising an amazing ÂŁ1090 for NHS Lothian!

Molly Simmons, Eleanor Wolfe, Jane Marshall and Katie Macdonald were also recognised for their outstanding service to the club and were awarded Colours by the Edinburgh University Sports Union. The 3rd Team was also shortlisted for the Alex Currie Trophy for Most Inspirational Performance after finishing top of Division 3 and being promoted to Division 2!

Philine Rouwers and Dayna Anderson jumped head first into their roles as Social Secretaries and joined forces with Fran Spaeth and Izzy Coppel to organise a Lockdown Olympics. This saw players battle it out in tasks of balance, speed and intelligence.

The club also introduced our featured segment Cooking Tea with EUWAFC which saw club members and alumni share their favourite recipes on our Instagram stories!

It may not have been the summer we expected - but it was a summer we will all remember.

THE START OF A NEW SEMESTER Ben Beach - Community and Alumni Officer

Resilience, strength and community have taken on entirely deeper meanings for EUWAFC in light of a global pandemic. While coming back had its challenges, these obstacles were tackled head-on with adjustments from dedicated committee members, coaches, captains and players.

Over the summer, we stayed connected and kept our competitive spirit and club unity high.

Returning in August for the preseason, the club safely hosted trials for over 100 new players - an enormous logistical feat. When training had to move online, captains continued to engage their teams creatively and the whole club came together to take part in impactful community and fundraising campaigns. The club’s perseverance has been fuelled by the legacy of excellence that our alumni have established. This year has truly shown that nothing can stop EUWAFC!

BEING A FIRST YEAR STUDENT DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC Ava Lehane - First Year Representative

With an infinite number of words to choose from, my first-year university experience has definitely been an “adventure." It’s been exciting, thrilling, terrifying, lonely and even a complete disaster at times. But us, first years, we made it through 1 semester and only 7 more to go. People talk of Freshers x2 but to throw it back to like 2012, YOLO! So, I’ve tried to make the most of my year. Looking back on university life in general, it’ll be hard to forget sobbing down the phone to my parents and those long days of self-isolation, especially for those of you in the likes of Pollock. Online learning is no longer a completely foreign thing to me – some hate it, some love it…we say no more. One thing for certain, everyone’s experience has been different.

University sport didn’t return everywhere in 2020 so I consider myself lucky because any day spent with my teammates was a good one. My memories of EUWAFC in 2020 will always make me smile.

Whether it be stuffing Hannah in a Christmas Tree netting machine or our socially distanced Christmas tournament! Here’s hoping we’re back having fun on the pitch soon!

EUWAFC COMMITTEE 2020/21

SEMESTER ONE

COACHES AND CAPTAINS ROUND S E M E S TUP ER ONE FIRST TEAM Mike Ross - 1st Team Head Coach This semester has obviously been very different to previous seasons. We were fortunate to have trials at the start which allowed the club a chance to see the largest turnout of players we have ever had. This also gave us a chance to chat with and get to know new and returning players.

We were very lucky to play a couple friendlies at the start of semester 1 against local SWPL 2 side Boroughmuir and our 2nd team which gave players a chance to get to know each other better on the pitch and allow me to see the team in a competitive game. Not long after these games restrictions changed once again, which meant we had to adapt and find ways to keep players involved and active making it interesting for all involved. We did some Zoom sessions and outdoor fun fitness sessions around Edinburgh Castle and George Square to grow team unity for a few weeks. Once we got back onto the pitch contact was still limited so we had to adjust sessions accordingly, but the group has really progressed in a short space of time and I have been really impressed with how the group has worked hard to improve. Last year was a tough year with difficult results so this year's sun was to get the basics of enjoying football back for the group. I feel we have got a great team spirit with several new players welcomed to the group quickly and a few experienced heads setting good examples.

Over the last few months we were able to set up chats with Caroline Weir at Man City and Liam Bramley who works at Aston Villa. We were also grateful for the yoga and psychology support from Dr Tracy Donachie.

While fixtures haven’t been able to take place, the club continues to live forward with the committee and coaches putting in hard work behind the scenes. I’m grateful for everyone’s efforts and I know the club will move forward stronger in the future.

I hope everyone is healthy and well wherever they are around the world. The club is always here to support if we can do anything to assist. Sending my best, Mike.

Kristina Kim - 1st Team Captain As with most things in 2020, this first semester has been full of challenges for the 1st team, but in proper 1s fashion, these challenges have been met head on.

After an extended trials period due to new students arriving in Edinburgh in waves, our already young 1st team squad added a number of new faces from as far away as Japan to as close as Musselburgh. While the restrictions on socialising and training initially slowed the team's ability to quickly gel, the squad has since achieved greater bonding through team Zooms, non-contact urban workouts around the Castle and George Square and walks around Arthur's Seat.

The 1st team are again part of the Performance Strength and Conditioning programme with 12 players attending the team session on Monday nights and 6 players joining individual performance sessions throughout the week.

We are into Phase 2 of the programme and the gains are already apparent, both in terms of comfort in the gym for newer players and further development of returners.

It was great to be able to get back onto the pitch for non-contact sessions, wherein we focused on player movement, attacking build-up and finishing/crossing featuring top-bins, Puskรกs award quality goals and worldie saves from our keepers. Hopefully, we will be able to continue to grow as a team and be ready when the time comes for friendlies and with luck, official fixtures in Semester 2!

SECOND TEAM Derek Nelson - 2nd Team Manager The rebuilding task has been harder in some ways this year – the combined impact of graduation, injury, promotion to 1s squad, staying in Sweden and staying in Dunfermline has meant that many of “seasoned pros” from last year have moved on. To balance that, the club had a huge response for sign ups online (over 140), with some real quality coming through. The next challenge was that we are only allowed a max of 18 at training so how do you select a squad after early trials when you can’t see everyone at the same time? Thanks to the “oldies” for being willing to have their training slots rationed so that coaches could see “the newbies”. Then as a player, how can you be seen when you can’t attend training as you have to self isolate because one of your flatmates in halls is having a test/has tested positive (sometimes more than once)?

Well we now have a full squad: some oldies, some newbies and well earned promotion for some of last year’s 3s – well done to them all. Some tough calls as the quality and the desire to be involved is stronger than ever. Allied to that the coaching input is also getting bigger, sometimes having to cut coach input to four at a session. No BUCS matches this semester, but a “local league” to look forward to – Heriot Watt 1s and three EUWAFC teams (!), plus friendlies. Then we didn’t, due to COVID, with no training and no matches permitted. Looking forward to working with this squad of players to blend them into a team. The challenges = the joys!

Caitlin Mitchell - 2nd Team Vice Captain The 2s started the 2020/21 season off well, with a small but strong returning team from last year. After a couple of weeks of trials and training matches, our squad was full, with lots of new players either moving up from the 3s or joining the university! It was great to get back to training after the summer break and to get to know each other - with training being the only place we could meet so many people at one time! Unfortunately matches weren’t possible but Derek got to work on figuring out positions and everyone was so keen to train.

With increased restrictions mid-semester, our workouts moved to Zoom; Meg and Linda led some great HIIT sessions and these gave us a chance to check in with everyone, while we were missing the usual routine. We then managed to organise some socially distant activities outside - circuits in the Meadows and a team bike ride organised by Ella! When we managed to return to training, everyone was buzzing, and despite it being socially distanced, it was fantastic to have some normality back. We’ve had coaching from Derek, Cliff, Sean and Stuart, which has been great to give us some variety. In such a chaotic semester, training helped give us structure, exercise and time to socialise, and the club in general has made such an effort to look after all of its members.

The 2s are looking forward to more training this semester and hopefully to start competing in matches as soon as possible to show off all the talent we have!

THIRD TEAM Laura Thomson - 3rd Team Head Coach It's been a difficult time to start back with the university during a pandemic that's involved Zoom Fitness sessions, guest speakers, socially distanced and non contact football sessions and no games. In saying that, the girls have been a huge credit to us as 3s coaches, themselves and the club. We have a whole new squad this season made up of a few returners but mainly brand new students from all over the world. The squad is a great group of committed, enthusiastic and dedicated players that have gelled very quickly and have great team dynamics and friendship. I was delighted to welcome back Val as my assistant coach and also Stephen as another assistant coach who's just joined us and has made a great impact within training and the squad in general. Asad has also been great in helping out with sessions and bringing new ideas to training sessions. As a squad we are desperate to get back playing and see what potential these players have within the league.

Jessica Pashby - 3rd Team Captain I am Jessica Pashby, the 3rd team captain. I am a biomedical sciences student in my final year of study. I joined EUWAFC in my second year and has been one of the best decisions I have made at university. I love the club and the community it has. I am very excited for the year ahead, with the recent promotion of the 3s it will be a challenging season but I feel it will be a great chance for the team to showcase their ability. There are lots of new faces which is exciting, both on the pitch and with new coaches. During the pandemic, we have done virtual fitness sessions and pub quizzes, to keep morale high and to make sure we are prepared for the coming season.

FOURTH TEAM Sean Cairns - Fourth Team Head Coach So what’s new for the 4s?! This season we were meant to participate in the BUCS 3A, obviously we all know why those plans have been put on hold but the players are all eager to take this team's first steps into the league structure. Our main struggle so far for the 4s has been pitch allocation unfortunately. Especially with the current situation we are in, it has been rough for us whether it’s having pitches with no lights, or being moved around on short notice. Although it’s challenging, it’s something we as a team can work through and not get us down. The aspect I’ve been looking forward to the most this year is the 4s really growing as a team and showing everyone we have the same attitude and commitment as any other team.

Pippa Gosden - 4th Team Captain The EUWAFC 4th team was established just last year, 2019, and was able to enter the BUCS 3A league this academic year. Although it seems like matches may not happen, this is a great opportunity for the team to develop more before getting to truly be competitive. As with all the other teams, Covid has been a huge challenge, but lets talk about something else. The true challenge of the 4s has come from being such a new team. We've had to establish goals, plans, and expectations but with only 1 coach and almost 50% of players new to the club. This year has been figuring out what it means to be the EUWAFC 4th team. What I'm looking forward to most about this year, is taking the time to actually get to know my teammates as individuals. Covid has given us the opportunity to meet online and spend more time talking and hanging out then we would have done on the pitch.

While improved fitness levels are a key goal for the team, developing a team identity and friendships are crucial in this historic year for the EUWAFC 4th team.

FUTSAL Emma Kern - Futsal Officer During most of semester 1, government restrictions prevented futsal training sessions from going ahead. We first moved to outdoor 3G 5-a-side pitches at Peffermill Playing Fields with a maximum of 10 players per cage. These sessions were led by coaches (Derek, Asad, Sean) and players (Izzy and Emma). Despite having very few sessions throughout the semester, we developed a closer relationship with the men’s futsal club. We managed to get their help with training (some sessions were led by their committee members SJ and George) and we engaged in virtual social activities with them. This contributed to planning a merger between the men's and women’s futsal clubs, which will hopefully become a reality in the next academic year. Semester 2 will be challenging due to tighter restrictions but it is our plan to start playing futsal as soon as we are allowed to, even if it is socially distanced.

RECREATIONAL LEAGUE Sarah Thornton - Recreational Officer

Unfortunately, due to the latest lockdown, women’s recreational football has been put on hold again. So although that does mean semester 2 has gotten off to a sad start, that doesn’t take away from the great weeks of recreational football we had in semester 1. In the first few weeks we managed to carry out several successful football sessions on the pitches, all in a socially distant manner, and with all the players being incredibly helpful and respectful to the rules that we had to set in place in order to keep the players safe. However, eventually when the new restrictions came into place, we were forced to put recreational football on hold. But, when the rules allowed for it, we encouraged our recreational team captains to organize socially distanced kickabouts on the Meadows (because the beloved Peffermill 5 a side pitches were off bounds), and many of our players did just that.

For now, all we can do is hope that the opportunity for us to play recreational football will come again soon, and in the meantime encourage all our members to stay active.

CLUB DEVELOPMENT Izzy Coppel - Co-Vice President Whilst the pandemic has put a stop to training hard on the pitch, it has hasn’t stopped our hard work off the pitch to continue to develop and grow our club. In particular, our Exec and Futsal Officer have worked together with the Men’s Futsal club to agree on a merger that will see our Women’s Futsal side separate from Women’s Football to become one, united Futsal Club with the men’s side. With a joint committee of enthusiastic, driven, and dedicated futsal players, we look forward to seeing how, as a standalone club, our futsal club will continue to build on previous success. A second developmental project underway is giving our players the opportunity to play club football as a part of EUWAFC. Due to the uncertainty of football this year it has been a difficult project to move forward, however either through the creation of our own team or a merger with an existing club team in Edinburgh, we hope to have more football being played by our members next season!

VOLUNTEER EUWAFC The club has also been aiming to develop our community presence and get more involved in volunteering opportunities around Edinburgh. We believe that it is important to not only fundraise, but to be actively involved in trying to better our community and support those in need. Volunteer EUWAFC was set up as a hub to offer partnerships and volunteering for all our club members. In Semester 1, we created links with Show Racism the Red Card, Spartans Community Club, Streetfit Scotland and Caring Christmas Trees!

CARING CHRISTMAS TREES It was no secret that Christmas was a bit different this year. We didn't manage to have our annual Christmas Dinner in person, so we decided to volunteer selling some Christmas trees with the Bethany Christian Trust!

We had such a fun and festive evening at Cameron Toll and loved helping families pick out what tree they wanted. It took a while to get used to the netting...but we got there in the end!

- Molly McGregor, Co-Vice President

SPARTANS COMMUNITY CLUB Forming a partnership with Spartans and volunteering as an assistant coach has been such a blast! It’s been incredible watching the coaches (led by EUWAFC alumna Nicola Sturrock) so effectively teach the little ones new skills and make football so fun and imaginative. I could not have predicted that I’d be running about as a honey bee one minute and a badger the next - but I’ve enjoyed every second!

- Ben Beach, Community and Alumni Officer

OCTOBER BLACK HISTORY MONTH EUWAFC always aims to create an inclusive, safe space that celebrates diversity in all its forms. We are committed to making our club more welcoming and accessible to our University's BIPOC/BAME community and encourage all our members to educate themselves and actively listen to marginalised voices.

During Black History Month, EUWAFC members were challenged to create posters to raise awareness and demonstrate their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The EUWAFC Book Club was also launched during this month and members read and discussed Bernardine Evaristo's "Girl, Woman, Other" to become more informed and aware of the real lives and challenges of black women in Britain.

EUWAFC also joined forces with Show Racism the Red Card and took part in their National Wear Red Day. This was a day of action where everyone is encouraged to wear red, spread awareness of racism in the UK and fund antiracist education. We encouraged all our players, supporters, families, friends and fellow university students to get involved and donate ÂŁ1.

Our club members all sent in videos of their red outfits and we created a video (check it out on our Instagram reels!)

Hannah Dryden also organised a fundraising raffle for Show Racism the Red Card and raised ÂŁ126 to go toward providing educational opportunities for different groups across the UK and to continually challenge racism in society.

EUWAFC are aiming to further our work with Show Racism the Red Card in the future and offer educational workshops for our club members, coaches and alumni.

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING Fran Spaeth - HWB Officer 2020 was not an easy year but it did put mental health and wellbeing at the forefront of everyone’s mind! This past semester was an opportunity to bring to light everyone’s incredible stories and EUWAFC took the initiative to highlight player’s wellbeing above all. In November we had our players make care packages for each other during the SU’s mental health and wellbeing weeks - this lead to some adorable exchanges and now I know everyone’s favourite scent haha.

For mental health day, we set out on campus and put up mirrors with questions about mental health - encouraging people around Edinburgh to reflect on their health! Here’s the link to the questions if you want to have a go :) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kxyALUpNyivOQz5B3v6h _p5AxbBRlrL9CKMO11WhoJs/edit and check out the vid on our Facebook page.

We started EUWAFC’s first ever book club in October to raise awareness for BLM during black history month! This is of course open to alumni as well as we will post what book is being read on the socials throughout the year!

To wrap up the semester we had a fun little interteam challenge called EUWAFC Goalposts where a bunch of EUWAFC stickers were put up all around Edi - the winning team got some homemade brownies post training (#2sdontlose - even McCabe found a Goalpost sticker by chance haha)

It was all around a wholesome semester and there is a lot more to come!!

"Mental health feels ordinary because you're use to being inside your head, until you notice something's different." - Fran Spaeth

DAYNA AND PHILINE TRIUMPH AT ZOOM SOCIALS Philine Rouwers - Social Secretary

EUWAFC still kept the socials going throughout semester 1!! We did a pub quiz, speed dating and a games night! We also introduced families so that players from different teams can still get to know each other even though we had no in person socials.

Leading up to our possible merger with men's futsal, we hosted a virtual horse racing night with them which was a great success and we're hoping to have more socials together in the future!!

Instead of our annual Christmas Dinner, we hosted a virtual event with awards, a quiz, breakout rooms and a surprise committee video!

Obviously it hasn't been ideal with having to do online socials but having regular socials has been great to keep everyone involved and we hope to have many more in Semester 2!

CHRISTMAS AUCTION FOR STREETFIT SCOTLAND Hannah Dryden - Fundraising Officer

In the countdown to Christmas, EUWAFC hosted our very first online auction to raise money for Street Fit Scotland.

This non-profit charity provides health, wellbeing and fitness sessions for individuals affected by or experiencing homelessness and social isolation, supporting them in constructing a brighter future. We were inspired to get involved with this charity due to sharing similar values of the power of sport. Like our football community, this charity utilises sport to construct social networks and provide a sense of belonging for those most vulnerable in society.

The auction occurred over the course of seven days with each day the bidding battles becoming more and more intense. From a commissioned painting to baking vouchers and treats, everyone wanted to get their hands on a lastminute Christmas gift. All the items that were being auctioned off were kindly donated by many local businesses, fellow Edinburgh University sport teams and EUWAFC Alumni. Without the support from all the donators we would not have been able to attain the same success. Through bidding battles and generous donations, we are pleased to announce that we raised a total of ÂŁ431.

EUWAFC would like to extend a massive thank you to everybody that got involved in the auction whether you shared the event, participated in bidding or donated prizes. The money raised will support Street Fit Scotland in being able to continue to run workshops and support participant’s personal and physical wellbeing. We hope next semester will allow us to continue our work with Street Fit Scotland and support them in continuing their amazing work.

THANK YOU FOR READING! KEEP UP TO DATE ON ALL THE LATEST NEWS VIA OUR SOCIAL MEDIA! @EUWAFC HTTPS://WWW.EUWAFC.COM/

WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY 2021!