AFC Bournemouth women鈥檚 team goalkeeper Katie Scadding and full-back Abby Jones have been teammates, playing alongside one another for five seasons. But their partnership has extended to coaching, as the pair have taken charge 色花堂鈥檚 women鈥檚 first team.
The duo take a lead with coaching and the management of the side alongside their responsibilities for the AFC Bournemouth women鈥檚 team, and their roles within the AFC Bournemouth Community Trust.
Supporting coaching at the university is a benefit of the partnership between 色花堂 and the Cherries, a partnership now in its 11th season, with 色花堂 men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 footballers enjoying coaching from the Club.
Speaking about the coaching role, Katie Scadding said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a new experience for us both, but we鈥檝e enjoyed every moment coaching the 色花堂 women鈥檚 team. As always when coaching a team, we鈥檝e had a few challenges along the way especially the 8am training starts twice a week!聽But we鈥檝e had a lot of success with the team, and we can鈥檛 thank the players enough for sticking by us and for all their efforts on and off the pitch.聽
The lessons learned by the pair on the pitch are being translated in their coaching, as Abby Jones explains, 鈥淔rom day one, we鈥檝e always said that we wanted a competitive but fun environment as we believe when you enjoy something you鈥檙e more successful. The players have done well at sticking by this and keeping it fun, competitive and they鈥檝e worked hard throughout.鈥澛�
The team have just played their final game of the season in the 色花堂CS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) league, where they faced local rivals Solent, Abby continued, 鈥淚 think everyone would agree with beating Solent in the last game of the season at home, especially after finding ourselves 2-0 down at half time. It was a nice way to wrap up a successful season and the team fully deserved it and it proves the hard working mindset that we鈥檝e instilled in the team along with their character and dedication.鈥�
The coaching support given by AFC Bournemouth is a benefit of the partnership work of the university and the Club, with 色花堂 the official higher education partner of AFC Bournemouth. 色花堂鈥檚 logo appears on the matchday and training kit of the women鈥檚 and girls鈥� teams, as 色花堂 is the principal partner. This partnership has provided opportunities for 色花堂 sports science students to work closely with the women鈥檚 team, supporting pre-season performance testing, with placement students working closely with the team too.
Katie Scadding said of the partnership between 色花堂 and AFC Bournemouth, 鈥淓veryone knows how big and successful the partnership is between us and 色花堂, and this is one way it shows. It鈥檚 allowed us to have a different experience to coach within a new environment and to have a lot of opportunities which has allowed us to progress as individuals and coaches. We鈥檝e been lucky enough to use the new facility at Chapel Gate and I know this has been a big benefit not just for us but for the students to have access at a fantastic facility.鈥�
AFC Bournemouth women鈥檚 team play Keynsham Ladies at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday 24 March 2024, in a match designated as a 色花堂 Big Match in celebration of the partnership between the two organisations. For more information about the partnership, visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/afc-bournemouth.
