In this week’s blog, I had the pleasure of being able to interview Jade Bradley, Portsmouth Ladies FC captain. With the influence of Covid-19, Jade gives an insight as to how "non-elite" football being suspended has impacted the female game.
Team captain, Jade Bradley, Portsmouth FC ladies- picture from https://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/teams/women/
Has Covid-19 impacted Portsmouth FC Women? If so, in what way?
Of course, it has, I don’t think it hasn’t impacted anybody. It’s been tough but you’ve got to see it as a challenge you want to face than an obstacle that’s stunting you individually and as a team. Everyone’s been really good with training on their own, pushing themselves and staying positive. Every time we have to stop playing, the eagerness to get back is even stronger.
How do you feel having no supporters watching your matches, has affected the team?
Fans bring an atmosphere that can’t be recreated, especially our fans. So in the form of atmosphere and buzz, it’s been challenging but in the sense of eagerness to play, do well, be a team, win...nothing’s changed. Whether we had 0 fans or 10,000,000 fans, we’ll always do our utmost for ourselves to then take back to the fans!
How has Covid-19 impacted your personal fitness/training?
Like I said before, it’s been hard. But I’ve seen it as a challenge. I’ve planned sessions for myself more than ever before and set little goals every week to stay motivated. The coaches at Portsmouth have obviously been great with guiding us and making sure we’re in good shape. I think the pandemic has taught us how to adapt to adversity and I hope in a couple months all the preserving pays off.
In regard to “non-elite’ football being suspended, how has this impacted Portsmouth Ladies FC as a team?
Obviously, we’ve had to stop training and playing matches, so it’s impacted us massively. Everyone’s seen it from the bigger picture in terms of keeping people safe and have accepted that the previous few and potentially next few months with be rocky, but I don’t doubt we’ll all be back soon and back to normality enjoying what we love.
The Women’s FA cup has been paused during lockdown, despite the men’s competition carrying on. How do you think this might affect people’s perception of Women’s football?
I’m not sure it will change people’s perceptions of women’s football, but I think they’ll understand what we see being a part of the women’s game - we need to be taken more seriously. It’s not a secret that funding in the women’s game is only a fraction of what the men’s game is and that’s a massive factor towards the decision but with this needs to come the understanding of the levels of commitment that women’s players and coaching staff put into the game. Many hours and a lot of personal finances are spent to play the game, don’t make it one rule for one gender and one rule for another!
What is one thing you would tell a young girl, who is aspiring to have a career in football?
Don’t stop. Your mind and body can push itself so much further than you realise at the time. Whether it’s perfecting a type of shot, trick, conditioning work, anything - you’ve always got a tiny bit more. Someone once said to me that the week has 10,080 minutes so there’s no excuse to not work hard for 90 mins of training or a game.