Ben Gilby caught up with Chorley Women’s Lisa Topping, who Impetus are proud to sponsor, for our second monthly chat. Here, we catch up with what Lisa has been up to since the New Year Lockdown.
Lisa began by explaining how she’s been doing and keeping active in the continuing difficult times: “I’m doing well despite the circumstances we are still facing. I have a really close family who work really hard to stay in touch virtually despite lockdowns and social distancing so I have family quizzes and such to look forward to. I’m also able to keep busy with little house projects and walking the dogs.”
In terms of how Chorley’s team are keeping in touch, it seems like there’s been plenty of creative activities going on: “We have weekly fitness sessions over Zoom led by one of our senior players, Betti Worth, who is fantastic at pulling together fun and engaging, football specific workouts. She is a really great fitness coach who has massively stepped up during this time to support the team. We also have a team WhatsApp group so there is always banter in there as well as little weekly challenges, such as keep-ups or a football skill. We also have club meetings where we all check in and keep up to date with where we need to be. Ben Gooden and the rest of the management staff are really great at keeping everyone connected.”
In terms of how Lisa is passing her time personally, “Apart from working, I’m passing my time during lockdown by doing plenty of dog walking, watching Netflix, and picking up some house DIY projects. I do like to watch football on TV. I regularly link up the FA Player onto the TV from my laptop or phone and binge back-to-back games. I enjoy watching sport in general – I grew up with it constantly being on the TV at the weekend where my Dad would point out tactical play in the football games. We also commonly watched tennis tournaments, F1 racing, rugby and horse racing. I’ve never really developed allegiance for a football team – I just enjoy watching a good game. I particularly enjoy watching big name games or rivalry clashes such as Liverpool v Everton or Manchester United v Manchester City.”
“On a more active note, now that we have slightly longer, lighter days I’m looking forward to getting back on my road bike on top of the running I currently do to try and stay fit in preparation for the season. I’ve joined Strava Clubs and challenges to keep motivated and maintain my running whilst training is on pause and then I grab my boots and a ball and head to the local park on my own on the weekend.”
Of course, all the home fitness work cannot make up for the loss of game playing sharpness. This is something that Lisa is already keeping in mind: “Once football is back and up and running, one of my short-term targets is to get back to game speed as quickly possible. Despite all the running and fitness during this time, the sharpness and mental focus will be something that needs to be quickly recovered.”
Whether or not there will be any football to be played before the summer is still in question. The Football Association recently circulated a survey to clubs with regards on how best to end the season – pausing until it is safe to play again or end the season now and rank clubs by a points-per-game basis. In Lisa’s opinion, “the FA are in a really tough position on this. Whichever decision they make, someone isn’t going to agree with it. I feel it’s a big weigh up of maintaining safety of those involved, taking into account club finances and being realistic with expectations. There are pros and cons with each approach that has been suggested and I’m glad it isn’t me having to make the decision!
We recently ran a feature on the site about Euxton Girls, one of your Lisa’s old clubs (see https://impetus885775742.wordpress.com/2021/01/25/euxton-girls-doing-great-work-in-lancashire/) so I asked Lisa if she could share a bit more about her experience there as a younger player and the role you have there at the present time.
“Euxton Girls is a fantastic local club who were integral in my football career. They really grew my love for the game and gave me a place to play football with other girls. Before that I only had options to play in the boy’s teams or train alone with my Dad. I remember feeling so happy when I got to train and play in an environment with other girls who had a love for the game and compete in a girls’ league. It was at that point that I felt I fitted in for being a girl who liked football.”
“We had a fantastic team including Holly Bradshaw, who is now the British Record Holder for the Pole Vault, Danielle Gibbons, who went on to be a goalkeeper for Liverpool FC and of course Nicola Barker who is still central in the Euxton Girls set up and develops young players coming through. The coaching staff there were, and still are, passionate, committed and put player development first. For example, I remember loving sessions delivered by Diane Moss when I was only fourteen and she is still there now driving the club forward.”
At the present time, myself and club captain, Laura Walker, would go and attend some of the Wildcat Sessions hosted by Euxton Girls and Diane on a Friday evening. Laura is a brilliant role model and really supports the local community whilst representing Chorley Women FC. When my time playing is up, I’d love to give back more to the club and get further involved in the coaching side with them.”
We look forward to catching up with Lisa again in March.
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