EUWAFC
PRESIDENT’S WELCOME President, Philine Rouwers
Hi everyone, welcome back to the Alumni Newsletter! This season is a big one - it's the club's 30 year anniversary!
This semester has seen loads of positive changes for the club; new players, new teams, new kit and new coaches. This semester has been absolutely amazing, with no covid worries and tons of new players joining off the back of the Euros last summer!
Our partnership with Boroughmuir Thistle has entered its second year. We now have 5 players signed with their senior team and we have just entered a brand new team, Edinburgh Uni Thistle, into the local SWFL Sunday league. This team will give all of our students, Boroughmuir players, alumni and external players the chance to play even more football!
Our brand new coaching staff have been welcomed by us all, and have quickly become one with the club and our players. Not only are they a lovely group of people, all of our teams have performed incredibly this semester and we're looking to keep this up until the end of semester 2!
Our club is closer than ever, with players from all four teams being involved in the excellent socials, and we can't wait to have all of you at our annual Alumni day! I hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying the new year, and we hope to see you at our matches, on the pitch with Edinburgh Uni Thistle, or at Alumni day ��
1s Head Coach, George Andronikos
A new chapter began for the team and myself as head coach. The atmosphere was very positive, and the trials were also exciting with many talented players joining the first team.
During the first period of the season we focused on building our style of play and philosophy as a team and club in general. Results were in our favour which helped everyone's confidence and trust started building. Our trip to Aberdeen and the pub quiz created stronger bonds. The biggest challenge was the defeat at the British Cup which though will be useful for the upcoming matches.
The whole team including the assistant coaches, the sport psychologist, and the S&C coach are all excited for the second part of the season.
1s Captain, Jennifer Brown
This season has presented the first team with a new experience and challenge competing in the Scottish 1A. At the start of the semester, we gained several talented new players who transitioned into a core part of the team very quickly. We set our goals and aspirations and our minds are still firmly fixed on these as we strive to excel in the Scottish league, the She Can She Will cup and look for promotion back into the premier league.
The teams preparations began early with our preseason campaign which pushed the squad physically but allowed us to build a strong team bond and character to approach the start of the season. Our league performances this semester have been strong, we remain undefeated going into the second phase of the season, scoring an impressive 41 goals in our 5 games so far.
1s Captain, Jennifer Brown
We are placed second in the table and look to put pressure on the top spot in second semester. We have seen a few injured players return to the team which has been a testament to their continued hard work in recovery and for those that are still forced to stay on the side lines, their encouragement has driven the squad and we look forward to welcoming more of them back this semester.
Our results highlight our continued determined attitude and drive for success. We are very lucky to have a talented group of players that continually look to develop themselves as players individually but more importantly work hard for the collective team around them- it has been an honour to captain them. It is this strong team spirit I feel is what will drive us second semester as we chase our goals. Second semester will challenge our team character and belief as we push to achieve what we set out to, we will stick together and continue to give everything every game for each other and our coaching team.
2s Head Coach, Gordon Megson
The first semester has been a highly successful period for the 2s! Results wise on the pitch we’ve had 3 great wins in the league against Strathclyde twice, and Glasgow, while delivering 3 excellent performances against the 1s and St Andrews. This leaves us comfortably sat in 3rd place with games against Glasgow, UoE 1s and RGU x2 still to come. We also progressed in both cup competitions and are looking forward to a trip to Nottingham in Sem 2 as a reward!
The semester has been so rewarding as coaches, all the girls have maintained extremely high attendance and attitude standards, and have contributed to making a really positive atmosphere around the team! They’ve been so welcoming to Laurie and I since we joined the club and we have had a great time coaching them, hopefully we can carry on the success into semester 2!
2s Captains, Graciela DiazThorpe and Rachel Miller
Thanks to new coaches Gordon and Laurie’s managerial expertise the 2s have had an outstanding start to the season both on and off the pitch. Despite being the only 2s in the league, our results have been reflective of the hard work put in during training and how much we have bonded over the semester. This has given us the opportunity to play against Nottingham Trent in semester 2, which is something we are all really looking forward too.
Unfortunately we won’t be able to complete our cup journey alongside Kara and Josie who have sadly left us after semester 1. We would like to say a personal thank you to the team and the coaches for their constant support and their dedication, we can’t wait for another amazing semester!!
3s Head Coach, Stephen Ho
The beginning of a new chapter was with a lot of expectations. New faces added to a determined core of players from last season had us in high spirit from the beginning. Great start to the season with confidence high after some impressive wins.
There was a blip which started after a loss in the cup. Confidence was knocked and maybe pressure was getting to everyone, even myself. Some mixed results leading up to the end of semester but hopefully on the right track again.
I'm positive that I'm learning and improving as much as the players are with continuing my coaching education and working with the players trying to obtain the same goal. Going forward I will be asking players to be committed in the final push and keep the confidence and determination high. We have to challenge ourselves to keep the momentum going and to set our own individual goals which will ultimately help us with achieving success with the whole team.
3s Captain, Catriona Watt
This semester the 3s were really excited to get going again after a long summer break! We had a few weeks of training to get back into the swing of things and to integrate all our new players into the team before we were off to our first game!
We had a great start to the season, winning 8-0 against Stirling 3s. We’ve managed to get good results in most of our games, meaning we are sitting in second place in the league going into the winter break; with a Conference Cup quarter final to look forward to in February.
It has been a really enjoyable semester with fun socials, and everyone getting to show off their beautiful voices at karaoke! Special mention to Lally’s pineapple costume at Newbie’s welcome!! We’re all really looking forward to playing games and more fun times in 2023! ❤
4s Head Coach, Carla Gomez
This first semester has been really good and exciting for the 4s! A great first-match win against Dundee gave us a confident start, and the hard work and commitment in training has been evident in our results so far.
We are currently 4th in the league, which I think is really good; 3 wins and 2 loses, but I feel positive that we can move further up the table with the upcoming matches.
I am very proud of the girls and the team has very much become a family unit.
Looking forward to resuming the season and getting more wins under our belts!
4s Captain, Jennifer Murray
This year has seen 14 new players joining our team, and despite having an almost entirely new team since last year, the older players have been exceptionally welcoming, helping the new members integrate into the team and club. The team has bonded so quickly, which has been integral to our performance and is evident with our successful start to the season.
In addition to a host of new players, the addition of our new coach, Carla alongside Pippa, has been instrumental in helping the team to develop our skills, performance, and confidence. Everyone has shown marked improvement since the start of the semester, and we have high hopes for the next semester.
I believe the team will only continue to improve throughout as we go into the second semester.
I have really enjoyed being given the chance to captain this team this year and I am so proud of how this first semester has gone and of every single member of the team.
We have had a great start to the year so far and have worked hard to ensure the club continues to develop and be the great club we all know it is. In our final year, we are both excited to have this role and to make a difference to a club that has given us so much. Our 100% attendance at socials has remained intact throughout semester one and we will ensure this continues into second semester.
The start of the semester involved recruiting new coaches for our 1st , 2nd, and 4th teams; it has been great to welcome a number of highly motivated and enthusiastic coaches to our club who have settled in well with their teams.
We organised and ran trials in welcome week which was a great success with so many players coming down to try out. Trials this year highlighted the growth of our club and it was amazing to see so many new players excited to become a part of it.
Throughout the semester we ensured the club was running smoothly off the pitch. The committee this year have worked very hard in their roles, collaborating with others and putting their ideas into action. We have been there to support them with their ideas and provide any assistance necessary. We introduced the first coaching feedback meeting which allowed us to hear any thoughts the coaches had, answer any questions, and furthermore build a relationship with them so they feel supported and appreciated as key members of our club – this is something we hope to repeat in semester 2.
We have a lot to look forward to in semester 2; winter tour, sports ball, end of season ball, BUCS and cup matches and alumni day. We will continue to work hard, stay committed to the development of the club, continue to support the committee, players, and coaches, and of course, stay silly :)
Team Secretary, Katie Alexander
This semester we have been working closely with our partner Boroughmuir Thistle FC to establish a joint team that will enter into the SWFL East, a plan that was in the long-term goals of the partnership agenda.
Edinburgh Uni Thistle is open to EUWAFC members from across all teams, alongside non-students who are keen to play.
After taking on the role of secretary for this team, it has been quite the workload getting things set up, getting players registered and signed for the squad, new social media accounts being made and sorting out the admin side to entering a new team into a league.
Nonetheless, this has been a very exciting role in helping create an opportunity to grow our club even further and provide more opportunities for women in Scottish football.
Personally, I have very big aspirations for the team and there is great belief within the squad that we will go out and give it our all from the very start.
With players from every BUCS squad, Edinburgh Uni Thistle is bringing an opportunity for EUWAFC to become a closer and more inclusive community, where players will get the chance to play with EUWAFC members outwith their usual Wednesday team. We cannot wait to get started.
Training is every Friday evening from 18:30-20:00 at Peffermill. If you are looking to join please get in touch via our email: edinburghunithistle@outlook.com.
Home games will be played every Sunday from January-June, so please come down and support. We head home from Newcastle tour on Sunday 15th Jan morning to play our first ever game, so we’ll probably need all the support we can get.
What an amazing semester!! Starting with over 80 people in the first session, numbers have been consistently high each week! We were able to enter 7 incredible teams into the intramural league and it has been a joy to watch the girls gain confidence, as well as forming some amazing friendships. The enthusiasm and passion shown by the girls made this role very enjoyable for us and we are super proud to say the girls beat Glasgow Development team 9-2 in what was one of the best football matches ever played on 3G2. This match was a massive step forward for Rec and we can’t wait to see the girls back in action in semester 2 for more 11-a-side friendlies and for the league to restart.
P.S Shout out to Mira and Matylda for coming down and helping out!
Over the course of semester one, we have had consistently great turnouts from players new and old, with fantastic levels of commitment for costumes and activities.
We started welcome week off strong with a surprisingly high-contact game of Capture the Flag in the Meadows, followed by a more traditional social at our sponsor Frankenstein. Some of our other noteworthy events were Fruits vs Suits, the charity shop night, Pub Quiz fundraiser, and Christmas Dinner.
It has been amazing to see players from all teams getting involved, and we so appreciate everyone who contributes to the great atmospheres on and after game days.
Looking forward into semester 2, we will be kicking off strong with Winter Tour in Newcastle, and have many more fun nights and events ahead of us as the frost hopefully thaws. Thanks so much to everyone for making this semester fly by (a little too quickly) and see you all in the new year!
