Reanna Blades has been at St George’s Park during lockdown, enjoying her call-up to the England Women Under-17s squad but in another part of her football life there has been frustration this month.
The Chelsea wing-back, 16, is also a coach at United Synergy FC in Croydon but the kids she helps learn the game have not been allowed to play as the UK closes up to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
She backs Telegraph Sport’s “Keep Kids Active in Lockdown” campaign, which is calling on the Government to rethink its decision to wipe out children’s sport. Blades has seen the importance of kids playing from her coaching and her own progress from Sunday League football to Chelsea’s Academy.
“I think it’s important for them to play sport during lockdown,” she said. “Not just football either, as I think you should be doing more than one sport. I did netball, hockey and at one point wanted to be a 100m sprinter. It teaches kids so much.
“Some of the kids I’m coaching are trialling at Academies and it has been stopped because of lockdown. For them discipline is important as it will help them when they get to a higher level of football, and that is what they are missing out on.
“They get a lot out of it because football is something they love. They are so enthusiastic when I’m coaching them and you can see they want to learn. At Under-11 you can see they are willing to learn, they are talking about players they are looking up to and how they watch them. They have amazing ability and want to be there. It is something they want to focus on and they should be allowed to keep playing.”
Blades is studying for her GSCEs, playing for Chelsea Under-16s and aiming for a place in England’s squad for Uefa Under-17 Championship qualifying in February. But coaching is important in her busy schedule.
She started helping her cousin at a Goals centre and parents approached her to take one-on-one sessions with kids. When her cousin moved to United Synergy, she went with him to coach the Under-7s and Under-11s around playing matches herself.
“One week one coach comes up with a session plan, then we rotate between the four coaches,” she said. “The stuff I do at Chelsea is quite advanced but I take it down to the basics and do the simple things with them.
“At the start when I joined the team they maybe looked at me differently because I was the only female coach on the staff. But then I trained with them, helped them, I am playing balls to them, I’m in goal sometimes. So they see the ability I have and they are in awe!”
Coaching could be a full-time career move after she finishes playing, but at the moment her goal is to become the best player in the world.
“One of my main goals is to be the best female footballer in the world. My second is to represent England at a World Cup and I also want to make my first-team debut next year,” she said.
Her path to Chelsea started with joining in Little Kickers with her little brother, before her PE teacher recommended to her father that she should join a team. She eventually got to the team she wanted after moving to different clubs to get noticed.
“This is my third season with Chelsea now. I started at Crystal Palace for three seasons, then AFC Wimbledon for two seasons,” she said. “A couple of my friends were at RTC (regional talent centre) clubs and I got a trial at Brighton and was there for a season.
“Just before that I tried-out for Chelsea but did with a broken arm and didn’t get in. I was playing in a plastic cast and I didn’t play to my full potential. I was gutted because it is where I always wanted to go. I trialled the year later and got a year’s contract, which was really good.”
Speaking via video link, she explained how being at Chelsea has made her more confident as a player under the tutelage of coaches Dean Steninger, TJ O’Leary and Joe Butler. They have converted her from a winger to a right wing-back and she is looking up to Kyle Walker as a role model in that position.
“I’ve previously been playing right-wing but recently more of a wing-back position because they feel I am good at defensive work as well as attacking with speed,” she said. “I’ve always looked at Kyle Walker. I’ve been studying him in detail since playing wing-back. Chelsea give us footage and we can look it up ourselves.
“The other player I watch is Raheem Sterling, he is so quick and it never seems like he thinks about what to do – he is already three steps ahead before he does a move.”
But there has been frustration this month at Chelsea too as their Academy for the women’s team was closed until last week. “Our first training back was Wednesday and that was only because our coaches pushed and pushed and said we had the facilities to train,” she said. “Not all Academies are back, it is just the ones with the facilities for it.”
From grassroots to the top there have been kids desperate to play the game during lockdown and Blades knows exactly why it is so important.
Source: The Telegraph Travels
