As part of our partnership with Penryn Athletic, Ben Gilby caught up with the club’s Beth Churchill about her footballing experience and how she is making the best of the present difficulties caused by the pandemic.
Beth is a child of the early 90’s, born and raised in Penryn, Cornwall. She recalls spending hours in her childhood “spent outdoors playing with the other children on the estate I lived on, playing games like ‘manhunt’ in between kicking a football about. This was great for me as it meant that I was getting regular exercise and plenty of running- I can thank those games of manhunt for my (rapidly dwindling) speed!”
These early days kicking a ball around the estate in Penryn was the start of Beth’s footballing experience – but it took a while for her to be able to take things further: “I was always up for a kick about with the rest of the children on the estate, but it wasn’t until secondary school that I really started to play ‘competitively’. My friend’s dad set up an after-school club for girls. At a similar time, another local dad was establishing a girls team as part of the Falmouth United set up, so a few of us from the school club ended up going along to the Falmouth United training too and hence playing in a formal league.”
In terms of other key people in those formative years in Beth’s footballing career, her PE teacher played a central role.
“Mrs Mingo would always let me know about any opportunities and organised for me to attend Cornwall trials, so I managed to obtain some higher-level training opportunities through that set up. Just having someone who shows an interest and has a bit of belief in you is hugely important and I found that motivational.”
From here, Beth became involved at Penryn Athletic. “My first experiences of ladies’ football were playing for Penryn ladies at age fourteen. Competing against and learning from the more experienced players at such a young age I feel helped with my development. More recently I have been involved in re-establishing a team in Penryn and have even had opportunities within the league as secretary and vice chair for a short stint (when I had more free time!)”
“I understand I am not the most technically gifted player, but I think I compensate for that in passion and commitment. I’ve played in almost every position on the pitch; I am probably most confident as a centre back but this season I have been pushed up to striker which is interesting and providing a new challenge for me to meet!
Football for me has always been an opportunity for escapism. Regardless of what else I have going on, having those 90 minutes where my whole focus is just on playing and being a part of a team, enables me to forget about everything else. I think team sport is somewhat magical in that respect and I would encourage all who are able to have a go at a team sport!”
Like every player, Beth has had to overcome a significant number of challenges in her career.
“I think as a young player the biggest challenges were financial and travel based. Having to rely on other people for transport did make things more difficult and I often felt like a bit of a burden. I think that often I felt a bit out of place almost. I rarely had a parent there cheering me on and once when my mum did come along- I wasn’t played, which as a 13-year-old was pretty gut wrenching. I felt like I had wasted her time.”
“I think a significant part of my self-doubt stems from a couple of events like that. I feel like that has however shaped a lot of my views on what team sport at grassroots level should be about. I think that we should nurture and offer opportunity to all who want to play, those who turn up week In and week out, are crucial parts of a team and deserve to feel like they are just that. I would hate for anyone to feel like I did as that 13-year-old. I think eventually when I am too old or injured to play I would like to do some coaching/management and really have a team where inclusivity is central.”
“More generally, I think as a female player there is often a sense of judgement from men (primarily) who feel it is acceptable to pass comments on your ability and often sexuality too, because you’re playing sport. I do feel that these judgements are becoming a lesser narrative now, but historically there has been a real issue with sexism in the sport and a desire to directly compare the men’s game with the women’s which has always frustrated me!”
“In addition, I feel that attracting good quality and reliable coaches/ managers to the grassroots female game is an ongoing challenge. We are fortunate at Penryn to have great support from the club which has helped to raise the profile of the women’s team and in turn enabled us to attract some positive coaches/managers but historically this has been the most challenging aspect.”
Beth also identified several of her key role models in football and sport in general: “Megan Rapinoe is not only an outstanding player but someone who uses their platform to speak on issues like Black Lives Matter and LGBT rights.”
“I have huge admiration for Marcus Rashford’s recent work for free school meals and great to see someone from a low-income background make it to the top level of their sport. A real role model in my opinion for many young people in the country today.”
“Then there’s Michael Jordan. I don’t have much of an interest in basketball but having watched the documentary ‘The Last Dance’ I was just amazed to learn that much of his success has centred on just never giving up. Having that growth mindset and really not stopping until he had achieved a level of basketball that led to him being considered the best in the world.”
Also, I need to give a big shout out to all the amazing people who I have played football with and against in Cornwall in the last twenty years or so of playing – you are all heroes!”
Away from football, Beth is a teacher. “This takes up the majority of my time at present! I also have a young son and a husband who I can usually be found out walking with. I think the social element of football has been hugely important to me too, and that is something I have really missed and appreciated more during the pandemic.”
“I can’t wait for this lockdown to be over so that I can see the girls again and get back to playing matches! We all worked so hard during pre-season and it would be such a shame not to complete the season this year.”
Like Beth we also can’t wait for Penryn Athletic to be playing matches again and following their progress on the site.
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