Alicia on Joining the Loughborough CP Football Team

Stepping Away From Football, and Finding Her Way Back: Alicia on Joining the Loughborough CP Football Team

Alicia, Loughborough CP Football team player, shares how she nearly gave up on football altogether, before finding a team where she finally felt included.

I started playing football when I was 6 at a local club, where I was the only girl there. This never really mattered to me, as I had always got on better with boys from an early age, getting involved in anything I could. I continued with this team for 7 years until I realised every week I got less time on the pitch, despite consistently turning up for training. I stopped enjoying the game as I no longer felt like it was for me.

However, through a friend I joined an all-girls football team at 15. The first few weeks there felt normal, but as time went on it was noticeable that I was the weakest player on the pitch. I tried to stick with it and carry on as normal, but each training session ended with me in tears and I dreaded going each week. After the season was over, I thought that was the end of my football journey, as I no longer enjoyed playing.

However, after starting Year 13 at Loughborough College, I saw an opportunity that my college had posted on social media – it was about a Cerebral Palsy football team over at the university. I turned up for my first session in October, after having a meeting with the Head of Para Sport at the university and the coach who would be running the programme. The first few sessions felt awkward, but as time went on we grew together as a team. For the first time ever, I felt included.

As a team we all support each other and understand the difficulties people like us with Cerebral Palsy face. The team is very welcoming and non-judgmental, no matter your background or ability. The Loughborough Para Football team has helped me really start to enjoy football again!

Having Cerebral Palsy has not come without additional challenges. Throughout my time playing football and in everyday life, I have faced judgement from others for not being good enough and for being different in the way I look and how I walk. I struggle with my confidence and have questioned whether I deserve to be where I am. From a personal perspective, I get frustrated with myself that my body cannot do what I want it to, and I believe this is a common feeling for people with a disability, specifically Cerebral Palsy.

I am looking forward to going to university this September to study Physics with Astrophysics, where I hope to go into further research. I would also love to go into teaching, to hopefully make STEM more accessible and show girls it's something they can do too. Alongside my degree, I want to keep playing football and enjoy the game as I now know it!

Alicia's story is part of an ongoing series about the players of Loughborough Para Football. Read Jack's and Hari's stories.