The Scottish Women’s Football season was still in its infancy when the current shutdown came into force. Co‐Manager Emma Hunter and her players may have been forced off the pitch and into isolation by the current restrictions but as Emma describes, they are still working hard to maintain their fitness, as well as sticking together whilst separated by isolation and social distancing.

“The football side of it has become more difficult and in terms of where we’re at and the level we’re at, most of our players are adults and they’ve played football for a long time so the most important part of it is just keeping that physical fitness as high as possible so when we get back we can get into training as quickly as possible and try to start from where we left off”.

Although social distancing has made training together impossible, the players have been sent personal programmes to follow.

“I think all players are different in the sense that some players really do need a programme to follow and that extra push of having something structured whereas other players are quite happy to get on with it and have the self‐discipline to do it themselves.

“I think the key is recognising that they’re all different so we’ve provided them with that guidance from the club, the sport scientists have had discussions around the programmes that they can do and they have all been sent a weekly programme”.

As a squad the players spend a lot of time with each other, Emma is aware that it may be difficult for some players who will miss the social aspect that football brings them.

“Mental health is really important so we need to be there for each other and we’re looking after that side of things as well. Across the board for players at every level it will be difficult having football removed from their lives when they dedicate so much time to it.

“For our players it is a hobby in addition to their working life so a lot of the time players do it for the social aspect and it will be really difficult for some of them to not have that”.

The Aberdeen squad is a close group and Emma feels that will help as they try to navigate this difficult period together.

“We’ve got a Whatsapp group and every day we’re doing a quiz and we’re also using other forms of social media to keep in touch and have a chat.

“Some of the players are still at school and they have a lot of pressure on them as they were in the middle of exam preparations so we have a school teacher in our squad, Carrie Doig, who has said she is willing to give them any help or support she can.

“We’re just looking out for each other and I’ll quite often pick up the phone to individuals just to check up and have a chat with them so it’s helping that we’re really close as a group”.

As she looks to draw a positive out of the current situation, Emma feels that it can help her bring her squad even closer together.

“I think as a community, a club and even as a nation, this sort of situation makes you stronger and I think as a small group of players and as a team, this will help makes us stronger in terms of bonding together as a group”.

The season was abruptly halted with the Dons having played only three competitive games and Emma was happy with the way things were shaping up.

“As a coach you always reflect on where we could’ve been better but there were a lot of positives. We had quite a few changes in the squad so it was always going to take time to see how they got on and bed them into the squad.

“We never lost a game so we’re still unbeaten and to beat Hearts from the league above us just shows where we are in terms of our quality on the pitch”.

New co‐manager Stuart Bathgate also started just prior to the shutdown and Emma said he made a
positive impression.

“Stuart came in and the players were only just getting used to having a new coach. When he came in it was really positive and he responded really well to the players and equally the players to him so it felt that we were just getting started when it all stopped”.

The return of football may be a while away but Emma feels that this break has shown people how important football is to them.

“I think one thing we can all take out of this, no matter where you are involved in football, whether you are a volunteer, a coach, a player or someone who just enjoys watching, is that it’s amazing how much you miss it.

“I’m sure when everyone gets back, they will be excited and we’ll all appreciate it even more, even the players when I make them do the runs that they always moan about!”.