Rachel Yankey on the people that supported her career
Former England and Arsenal footballer Rachel Yankey talks about the people, and the job roles, that supported her career as a footballer.
RACHEL: Hi. I'm Rachel Yankey and I am a former Arsenal and England footballer.
Obviously the manager and the coaches, who will give them information. Then you've got, like, physios, who obviously can help you if you've got sore muscles or you may have picked up an injury. The people that sort out the kit, the kit men and women. They can help you by making sure that you're wearing the right attire and your boots are the right fit.
One thing that I always remember from playing, after big games especially (was) the photographer. There was always one that would hand me a camera and allow me to take photos. So there's always an opportunity to be a photographer too.
People that helped me out, well, my first ever coach. Well, he wasn't a coach because he was a painter and decorator that set up a football team. But, he got me involved in women's football and the fact that they cared enough to do that was a real help to me.
Once obviously I'd made it into a professional team or an England team. People that can help with injuries, It was the medical staff that were always on hand. The strength and conditioning. Making sure that you're fit and strong enough to go out there to perform at your best. So, um, yeah, really rely on people. The backroom staff, they're probably the unsung heroes of a football team.
With any good team you need staff that are full of knowledge but also full of care and comfort and support to be able to help you on moments where maybe you're not mentally at your best and you need an arm round your shoulder and you need someone to listen to you. Or you need someone to actually really pump you up for the game and give you motivational talks and really get you hyped.
So, um, it's really good in a team that you've got different characters. Whether you're a laughy and jokey kind of person or you're very, you know, straight down the line. You'll still be needed within that team environment.
The unsung hero in most teams are usually the kit person or the medical team. They're the people that, you know, they see players when they're one-to-one or at their most vulnerable times. They're the people that the players really rely on to have those really sort of deep conversations, rather than going to a manager, who maybe picks the team, or a coach that has an influence in that way.
Most of us we want to play and we want to be a striker and have the glory and play professionally. But I think look at the other options of other jobs that you can be: medical, photography, whether it's journalism, you're writing about the sport. There's so many different things that you can do that obviously can still take your passion to another level.
Rachel Yankey is a former professional footballer, spending the majority of her career with Arsenal.
Rachel earned 129 international caps for England, making her the most capped England international player ever. She also played for Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.
As a child, Rachel used to play as the only girl on a boys football team, before later joining girls teams. She began her senior playing career aged 16.
There are lots of people in roles behind the scenes including physios, kit staff and photographers. The medical staff were always on hand to help with injuries. These backroom staff are definitely the unsung heroes.
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