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Daily Womens Football : Episode 109: Mega Monday Guest Special with Emily High- founder of Aim High Football Camps
9 Plays14 days ago
Thank you for joining Briony and Raj along with special guest Emily High, the founder of Aim High Girls Football camps, dedicated to developing female football players across the UK.
From her coaching journey to the challenges and opportunities in the women's game, this episode is packed with insight and inspiration.
@gspnwomens
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Transcript
Introduction to Beyond the Pitch
00:00:09
Raj
Hello and welcome to Beyond the Pitch, a daily women's football podcast brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network.
Meet Emily High, CEO of Aim High Football Coaching
00:00:16
Raj
I'm Raj, joined as always by Bryony. Hey, Bryony, how are you doing today?
00:00:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
Good evening, everyone. I'm going to thank you how you are.
00:00:23
Raj
I am very good, thank you. And very excited as we are joined by the incredible Emily High, CEO and founder of Aim High Football Coaching. Welcome to the pod, Emily. How are you doing?
00:00:37
Emily
Hi guys, you all right? I'm doing good, I'm doing good. Excited to be on the pod today.
00:00:41
Raj
Thank you, we're excited to have you.
00:00:43
Emily
Wicked.
Discussion on Emily's Inspiration and Growth in Women's Football
00:00:44
Raj
and So, during today's episode, we're gonna be discussing what inspired Emily to start Aim High, who are biggest inspirations are the growth of the women's game and some exciting upcoming projects that Emily has through Aim High.
00:00:59
Raj
So, without further ado, let's get into it. So, I'll let you start, Bryony, go for it.
Importance of Early Football Engagement for Girls
00:01:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Am I starting, am I?
00:01:06
Raj
Go for it.
00:01:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Okay. um I think my first question for you would be, so, I mean, as another as a fellow woman in coaching and ah in the in the sector, i'm I'm too very passionate about the growth of the game and actually bringing girls up young within the game.
00:01:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
And as a lot of the research shows how that has the impact on long-term participation in the game and less dropout by having them good experiences young.
00:01:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
Is that kind of ideology somewhere around the lines with where you were going when you decided to set up this amazing um little thing you've got going?
00:01:45
Emily
Yeah,
Aim High's Welcoming Policy and Positive Experience Focus
00:01:46
Emily
of course. Yeah. So we kind of aim high as a, as a whole kind of works off. We kind of go at it in two ways. We obviously look at, um, the girls development, uh, technically tactically. Um, and like you say, like, get the girls in as young as possible, um, get them kind of doing those basics really early on.
00:02:07
Emily
um and And to build that confidence, because I think at the moment what is happening is a lot of girls, you know, post the Euros and England winning the Euros and so on, have decided at the age of kind of 13, 14 or whatever, oh actually, I want to give football a go. And but so they come in and they play football with, you know, maybe a group of boys or with other girls. And they realize actually all these other people, mainly the boys, I guess, have been playing for years. And so that can kind of be a barrier to them wanting to carry that on. So I think it's really important to offer up things like aim high, because we kind of welcome anyone of any ability. We've had girls come to camp that have never played before. um Equally, we've had girls come to camp that are like playing at really high level at County in the JPL Warriors League, um which is the girls ah Junior Premier League, yeah the JPL Warriors. So we have a real vast mix and we kind of find a home for all of those people. So for those that are coming that have never played before, um like you say, it's really key that we actually instill those
00:03:07
Emily
like foundational skills really, really early. um But more importantly, ah like you mentioned, we want to create ah positive experiences around football. And actually, there is a natural dropout um kind of as you reach those teen years 13, 14, 15. And I think a real um kind of tool that we can use to combat that is actually can we have this background and these like foundations of these massively positive experiences that the girls look back and it's not even it's not even a thought like, oh, do I want to carry
Creating Lasting Soccer Experiences for Lifelong Participation
00:03:38
Emily
on football? It's just ah I play football and I'm going to keep doing this for as long as possible. And I think actually when you look at the grand scheme of things, it's something like zero point five percent of um girls that play football will end up having football as their career, which
00:03:56
Emily
is is like hardly anything. So for me, obviously I'm 100% there for those 0.5% that then go on to play um as as a career, but you've got 99.5% of the rest of the girls that actually, they just want a lifelong sport and football can be that. And so we kind of want to create those memories and create those experiences that mean that the girls associate positive things with football.
00:04:25
Emily
and, you know, friendships and and, you know, all the good things that come with playing any sport, but obviously, especially football, because that's my sport. But um yeah, so definitely, definitely really important ah for us at AMI to kind of go with that philosophy for sure.
Raj's Experience at Aim High and Non-Pressure Environment
00:04:42
Raj
That is, that's incredible. And um I have actually coached Emily's camps and I can absolutely say that that absolutely feeds through, that that's the atmosphere. And you can tell that that's your mission and that's your goal. And and exactly like you said, in terms of the girls that decide at 12, 13 that they want to play,
00:05:08
Raj
and Aim High gives them the outlet to not have the pressure of having to join a team and then have the pressure of matches when, like you said, they don't really necessarily or really know what they're doing tactically or um have that skill set to go into a game and then make an impact.
00:05:14
Emily
Yeah.
00:05:26
Raj
So coming to you, as opposed to just joining a team straight away, learning that base skill where they missed out in the younger years and then joining team is just going to give them a little bit more confidence to then go
Safe Spaces for Mistakes and Confidence Building
00:05:39
Raj
and say, yeah, do you know what?
00:05:40
Raj
I want to join a team and I want to do those matches as well, because I feel like on Sundays or Saturdays, I can then contribute to being gay a positive impact on that team.
00:05:50
Emily
Yeah, ah I literally said to my girls tonight, like i i've I've come before this, I had a session.
00:05:50
Raj
So yeah.
00:05:56
Emily
I literally said to the girls tonight, we were doing like a ball mastery thing. um And I said, look, this is like your safe space girls, like this is away from club football. Like make as many mistakes as you like.
00:06:07
Emily
Like I don't care. Like nobody here cares. Like this is your space that if there's something you've always wanted to be able to do in football, if there's a certain skill, if there's a certain Even if it's just to be more vocal, like whatever it is, like this is your space.
00:06:18
Raj
Yeah.
00:06:19
Emily
It doesn't matter. It's not, I'm not going to, you know, I'd like to think that, you know, at grassroots, this doesn't happen, but I think it probably does across the girls and the boys, but I'm not going to say that person isn't starting on Saturday because they made all these mistakes in training.
00:06:34
Emily
Like you can just make a ton of mistakes and I'm just going to say, well done for trying rather than, you know, oh no, I've got a question who starts on Saturday kind of thing.
00:06:38
Raj
Okay.
00:06:42
Emily
um So yeah, like um I literally said that to the girls earlier tonight, so that's spot on.
00:06:44
Raj
Nope.
00:06:46
Emily
Yeah, definitely.
Creativity in Young Players Without Performance Pressure
00:06:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
I was just going to jump in and say there, it's ah it's is a shame actually that at grassroots level, it's always performance over learning. It's always you've got to meet meet our criteria, hit our standards and actually I like the word safe space in there. I think that's really key and I just wish that would was cross-transferred over a lot more into grassroots, into FA affiliation and It was put more so on the syllabus of learning and coach education as well. It's creativity, I think, is limited in young players because they are constantly trying to meet these perceived expectations of them. Would you agree?
00:07:25
Emily
Yeah, I think it' look that it's something that happens, isn't it? And when when these girls do get to the levels where they're kind of, you know, playing for county playing, particularly kind of um fourteen under 14, under 15, and especially going into under 16, those pressures are going to exist. Like there's no getting around that there is going to be a time in any player's life when it does become actually like, if you don't perform, you don't make the team. But that isn't right now. It isn't, you know, at grassroots.
00:07:53
Emily
what you want to create in grassroots. Like I said, if if that is it, if it that is 0.5% of girls that go through to, you know, have a career in football, like playing football, if you're focusing on that 0.5% and making sure that everyone's prepped for getting into an academy and having to feel those pressures, all those other girls, you're going to lose them immediately. And then it just completely depletes the pool of female players. And that's not what we want to do. We want to grow the pool of players that we have.
00:08:21
Emily
Um, and then naturally you'll end up with this massive pool of incredible players that do go on. And then it won't be, well, probably we'll still be 0.5%, but that was 0.5% will be hundreds of thousands more rather than, you know, what it is now.
00:08:34
Emily
Um, so yeah, really, really important that we kind of, yeah, just encourage the ghost to play, keep playing, keep making mistakes, like keep doing all those things.
Foundation for Future Pressure Handling Through Positive Experiences
00:08:43
Raj
Yeah.
00:08:43
Emily
And I think it was, um, I can't remember what the documentary was called now. Um, But it was ah an academy. They followed a load of players in an academy. And one of the coaches said, actually, the players that do the best are the ones who they haven't got tons of people saying to them, like, you know, it could be it could be parents, it could be other coaches, it could be whoever, you know, putting like piling all pressure.
00:09:08
Emily
They just want kids to come and like play the freedom and and like have the bravery to to do things.
00:09:08
Raj
Yeah.
00:09:13
Emily
And yeah, and they do that at the young age. And then when it comes to when they're older and they have all the pressures, like they've got the confidence and the positive experience to kind of get them through that, that pressure. Whereas if that pressure starts when they're like under eight, under nine, it's no wonder there's a dropout kind of thing.
00:09:31
Raj
Yeah, yeah, no, makes it makes absolute sense. And just following on them from that then, and all obviously the incredible positive work you're doing, what or who actually inspired you to to create Aim High then and and start it?
Inspiration Behind Aim High: Tony Robbins and Personal Experiences
00:09:47
Emily
Oh, so many, so many things, so many people. I think, so for me, I have a ah ah really close friend. She's my best friend, actually. And she um invited me to do an event. um It's a guy called Tony Robbins. He is an American, really extravagant American guy that does these kind of big like life coaching events and whatever and we kind of signed up for it for a bit of a joke really like we we'd heard you kind of do loads of jumping about and cheering and singing and you know really over the top um and the the whole event kind of looks at
00:10:18
Raj
Yeah.
00:10:23
Emily
like your limiting beliefs and what's stopping you achieving the things you want to achieve and so on um and so anyway we did this event and ah during this event there was this one bit where you kind of do this meditation where you think of what you want your life to look like and what you want to do with your life and it's like this 45 minute meditation it's the longest of other sat still i can't believe i haven't got through it to be fair but all i was thinking about was i just had this thing in my head that i was like girls football camps we need more of them we need more of them And i so when I was 22, I went to America and did Camp America and worked. um I was life guarding and football coaching at a sleepaway camp in America. So I was there for to yeah two months and um loved it. It was just amazing. like The kids are just there for seven weeks all summer. They play loads of football. They do loads of sports. It was just incredible.
00:11:16
Emily
um am i And I kind of came away from that thinking, God, why is there nothing like that in England? Like, this is amazing. Like, I've had the best summer of my life and I've just got to leave it on another continent. Like, that doesn't sit right with me kind of thing. um And so, yeah, those two things. And obviously I grew up playing football. I had, you know, I played for a really good club when I was younger that actually um we went and did loads of things around football and we went to, um you know, watch Chelsea women's play and we went to watch England play and like,
00:11:45
Emily
Back then there's like maybe a thousand people in the in the crowd, but like for me, that was enough. I was like, this is amazing. Like, oh my God, like, look how many people there are here. And there's like, what, nothing compared to what there is now.
00:11:58
Raj
Yeah.
00:11:58
Emily
Um, but yeah, I think I, I was lucky. I had a really good club when I was younger and, um, we were probably, there was probably like five other teams in our league and I didn't really know any other girls that played football.
00:12:12
Emily
So I was kind of really lucky in that sense. And I guess if I hadn't had that, would I continue to be as bothered about football growing up? Like probably not. um But I just, like I said, such positive experiences around it.
00:12:23
Emily
So it was a no brainer. Like I've carried on playing. I still play today um a lot slower than I did before, but I still do it because I love it.
00:12:30
Raj
Yeah.
00:12:32
Emily
um And yeah, I just wanted to, I wanted to create something that had a purpose and I i feel so strongly about sport and specifically football and what that did for me in my life. And yeah, I think I'd just be wicked if I can kind of leave a bit of that behind um when I retire, hopefully when I'm 45.
00:12:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
So basically all of this was a result of a 45 minute meditation session.
00:13:00
Raj
That's what I don't remember.
00:13:00
Emily
vaguely yes
00:13:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
That is amazing. I love that.
00:13:04
Raj
Tony Robbins, I've seen for his stuff and it is wild.
00:13:04
Emily
yeah
00:13:08
Emily
i'velet I've literally, I've never, I don't even know that much about the guy over in this four day event where I was just screaming and jumping around in my friend's living room for four days, night but I loved it, so yeah.
00:13:09
Raj
I've seen it stuff all night.
00:13:20
Raj
That's interesting. That's really cool to be fair.
00:13:23
Emily
Yeah, it was cool, it was really cool.
00:13:25
Raj
Love that.
00:13:27
Raj
and So obviously that's, you had all your passion around it through obviously playing and various other, it's great to hear that actually um you had great experience of playing when you were younger as well um because not not everyone does so that's incredible as well um and that obviously helped you continue playing and then with your coaching journey as well. So that's great. um In terms of when you kind of first started out, were there any kind of specific challenges that you faced early on when kind of trying to get the camps off ground that you can kind of specifically remember?
Challenges of Launching Aim High: Self-Belief and Awareness
00:14:12
Emily
Yeah, I mean, I so originally I coached um and I was at the time and under 13th team, I think one of the four teams and I coach them since they were under 11. So the very first camp I actually did, um it was I did it just for that team. So there was like 14 girls at camp and it was just my little team that we coached. And I did that and I was just like so nervous and so like, I've got to get everything perfect. Like I need to make sure we do this and that and um just before the camp we managed to get a load of sponsors for that for that team.
00:14:45
Emily
And so they all got new kits. They arrived on the first day of camp and got the kit and whatever. um But I think, so I did that and I thought that was great. And then I didn't do anything again for like a year. And I was really just like, yeah, yeah.
00:14:57
Raj
Wow, okay.
00:14:59
Emily
And I was just like, nobody else would come. Like, so I guess my first kind of barrier was my own self belief in that. I was like, no one's gonna come if I put this big event on and whatever.
00:15:10
Emily
um And one of the parents of the girls that I coached, um he kind of said to me, he was like, if you do another camp, we'll come. Like, it's really good. Just do it. Just do it. And like, I was kind of like, oh, okay. Oh, like yeah, maybe I will. Maybe I will.
00:15:26
Emily
um And kind of that year, I was, you know, thinking it through, thinking it through and decided to take the leap and was like, right, I'm going to open this up. This is just this isn't just going to be something that I do for my team will do it for everyone. um And like so I guess the biggest barrier that I then faced when I kind of got over that initial kind of limiting belief within myself um was actually just getting the word out and making people aware that it even existed and when I did and I still even do it to an extent find this now is that you kind of message people or speak to people or whatever it is and because they don't really know you yet it's kind of like it takes a really long time to kind of build up that base of like avid fans really for what you're trying to do um so yeah it kind of it took me a while and that I remember that I really specifically remember this one Saturday
00:16:18
Emily
I had a phone call um and and this was when I still had just like, I just had my personal phone. I didn't have like a work phone or anything. I saw this number come up and I thought, who's that? Who's ringing me? I'm their number, whatever.
00:16:29
Emily
So I picked up and was like, hello. Like, is this to say like, who are you?
00:16:32
Raj
why
00:16:33
Emily
Like, why are you calling me? And they were like, oh, hi, it's so-and-so's mum. And I've just seen an advert for your camp. And like, I was like, oh, hello, hello. Yes. And they were like, oh, is this Emily?
00:16:44
Emily
And I was like, yeah, this is really like, put on the proper like phone voice and everything.
00:16:48
Raj
Yeah.
00:16:49
Emily
And, uh, and yeah, and she said, Oh, I've heard this, like, you know, my daughter's team, their, their managers put this thing in the group chat, blah, blah, blah. Um, I just wanted to hear about it. So I spoke to her for kind of 10 minutes. And then later on that day I had on my phone, um, our websites through like Wix, the, um, website thing.
00:17:07
Emily
And so it notifies you every time someone makes a booking and all afternoon, it was like, did loot, did loot, did loot.
00:17:10
Raj
You need a dog.
00:17:12
Emily
And I was like, oh my goodness.
00:17:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
Wow.
00:17:14
Emily
I was like, every time one came up, I was like, anyone that was around me, I was like, look, look. And it was just that real like breakthrough moment. And that's about, so obviously we did the camp, that first camp was just my team and then it didn't do anything for a year here.
00:17:27
Emily
And then that very first camp that we did, we had like 50 girls turn up and I was just like, and
00:17:30
Raj
Wow.
00:17:33
Emily
Yeah. So, but that initial kind of just getting the word out there, but I guess all I would say to anyone that's trying to kind of set up something similar is like, just be a pest, like just message people, talk to people, like message them again, like, you know, say everything that you believe in as a, as an organization, as a club, whatever it is, um, you know, chat to them, not just about trying to sell whatever it is that you're offering, but chat to them and show that you care. And actually now.
Building Community and Rapport Beyond Camps
00:18:02
Emily
There's girls that have come to that first camp, and I still chat to their parents, like, not about anything.
00:18:08
Raj
Yeah.
00:18:09
Emily
They'll just message me and say, oh, so-and-so did really well at the weekend, you wouldn't be proud, like, they'll send me clips of their games or whatever, or, like, they'll message me and say, oh, what boots shall I get?
00:18:15
Raj
Wow.
00:18:18
Emily
I don't know what, I don't know anything about the Astro boots or grass boots or whatever. um And so, yeah, for me, it's kind of building that community and I'm not just, or I ah want people to know that I'm not just there to offer a camp for a week in the holidays.
00:18:33
Emily
I'm not just there to offer an evening session once a week. Like actually, if you've got like a really simple question about football, because girls football is still growing, like a lot of parents that are coming into it don't know those things.
00:18:41
Raj
Yeah.
00:18:46
Emily
Like, what boots should I wear? I don't know. I don't know anything about boots. What's the difference between these boots and that boots? What's the difference between this? Like, oh, you know, whatever it is. So, um, yeah, I kind of deviated completely away from the question that you asked me, but kind of
00:19:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
phone
00:19:00
Emily
Yeah, exposure for the company and and just getting my head around the idea that it was something that I could do were kind of my main barriers, I guess.
00:19:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's fun.
00:19:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
And that's really nice, sorry, gomage.
00:19:09
Raj
and like Go for it, go for go for it,
00:19:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
I was just going to move on to another question, but I should say it's that's really nice to listen to actually. And you talk about your mindset and your belief in yourself and what you're capable of going on to do and achieve with Aim High, which you've clearly been very successful in.
Teaching Resilience Through Football
00:19:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
But what what do you what is your main belief? What do you try to instill? What mindset do you try to portray and pass on to the girls that you coach?
00:19:38
Emily
Yeah, so we kind of, and not a lot of aim highs that I, well for me, sport growing up kind of shaped who I was as an adult and they kind of say, they say that my uncoachable players are unemployable adults and so I want the girls to kind of, obviously in a fun, safe way, whatever, to be able to be coached and to train that kind of mindset of actually whatever, what I put into this is what I'm going to get out. And, you know, a lot of the girls, they don't want to play for England, they don't want to, you know, play for these big academies. um And that's absolutely fine. But when I say to them, look like you don't have to want to play for Arsenal, but like,
00:20:23
Emily
like you're a good person, you're a strong person, you can go and still make a difference and not play for an academy. Like you can go and play for a Sunday league team as a 30 year old woman and make a massive impact to the people around you or go out in your daily life. And like, you know, in your work, like, are you someone that works really hard when things get tough? Because look, we all know like life is tough, it can be tough. And actually, football is a really good place to develop those like perseverance skills and like when you're two nil down on a Sunday afternoon and it's pouring with rain and all you want to do is go home, can you like dig deep and find something within yourself to actually go and score a goal, or close down that next player and you know, it all links up. If you can persevere in that, what's to stop you persevering in any other venture that you have in your life? um And so I often say, look, in in football as it is in life, we want to learn how to do this, we want to learn to work hard, we want to be a person that
00:21:19
Emily
that can keep going and um and and just like see light when things are a bit rubbish like if you've just lost like are you the kind of person that comes away from a loss and spends the rest of the week feeling naff and like look I sometimes do it like it's fine but can we turn that around and be okay this is these are the mistakes you made or these are the things we could have done better and to then next week go and develop that again and and fix those problems because look you're going to make mistakes you're going to
00:21:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mm hmm.
00:21:48
Emily
<unk> going to do things wrong the only important thing is what you do next and like if you lose the ball in a game what matters what happens next doesn't matter if you've lost the ball you're going to lose the ball can you get it back if you're you know doing a project at work or whatever at school whatever it is if you get it wrong it's fine just go fix it um so yeah that's kind of part of kind of our philosophy and
00:22:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
Recognizing the Person Behind the Player in Coaching
00:22:11
Emily
in coaching, it's obviously about football, but it's also about the person that we're creating at the end of the journey when they're 18 or not even the end of the journey, you know, further down the journey.
00:22:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
I love that so, so much. I mean, I've recently, as part of my Masters, had to put together a presentation about who I am as a coach and that was a title of mine was um ah like being holistic and the person behind the player.
00:22:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's so easy to lose sight of the fact that this is ah this is a person here.
00:22:42
Emily
yeah.
00:22:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
And actually what we do off the pitch and the life skills, the mindset, the the cohesiveness away from the pitch is so influential to what happens when they do step out there.
00:22:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you can, to some extent, only prepare them as far as that that white line. And then you've got to watch it all happen.
00:23:00
Emily
yeah
00:23:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think we forget about those cross-transferable skills as you talk about and creating the mindsets that actually they can take on further.
Confidence Improvements Through Support at Aim High
00:23:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I i really resonate with with your view on that.
00:23:12
Emily
Yeah, really important definitely.
00:23:14
Raj
Yeah, honestly, um it's insane. Like you said, they come to football camp, but they're not just learning football. like And like you said, some of them don't want to have, they don't have dreams to go on paper, ask them in England, but the confidence that you're giving them to the transferable skills that you're teaching them to go into their everyday lives, job interviews, or just having a conversation with someone a bit more senior to them like for example when you shake hands at the end of a game like common courtesy things like that just all those little things what you just said there just reminded me that because I've been doing those small little things since the age of like what like seven when I started playing like it's just natural and you take it into your life throughout like it just never stops like you just said and
00:23:49
Emily
No.
00:24:13
Raj
I can remember um the first ah training of Camp Of Yours that I came into, you um one girl specifically, um and she just wouldn't look me in the eye, wouldn't have a conversation with me, like, was really comfortable with you, and it was clear that you've ah got that relationship, built that rapport, and um she had like such a good little skill set, and I just like kept being like come on girl like that was brilliant that was fantastic but she just like run off and and wouldn't have a conversation with me and then um the next and and she does all of your camps as well and then i missed a couple i think i missed easter and then i came back in summer um and the next time i saw her wow the confidence in that girl honestly i don't know if you know i'm talking about but i was literally like
00:25:00
Emily
Oh, love that. I think of you talk there's a couple that I'm thinking of, but you have yeah.
00:25:07
Raj
I was like, who are you? I was like, that's it. She's like, Raj, coach Raj, look at his skin. I'm like, look, I bet I can do it on you. Stand there. I bet I can see you out.
00:25:16
Emily
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:25:17
Raj
I was like, whoa. And then I went into like, like, competition. I was like, I bet you can't. Like, literally. But yeah, so you're doing exactly that.
00:25:28
Raj
And I literally witnessed it. So yeah, that's incredible.
00:25:31
Emily
Oh, I love that. I love that. I had, um, so a team that I coached before I finished coaching this team. Um, a few of the girls went on to like higher division clubs and a few of the girls moved on to other clubs and so on. And um one of the parents messaged me um a couple of weeks later and they said, oh, their daughter, so-and-so said to me the day, she said, oh, Emily really cared about us, didn't she?
Aim High as a Supportive Community
00:25:56
Emily
And and then one was like, yeah, I think so. And this mum was talking about, and I said, oh, why she said that then? She said,
00:26:01
Emily
She said, oh, um Emily always, at the beginning of training, Emily always used to ask us how we were. She would always say, oh, how is everyone? Has anyone got any news? Has anyone got any gossip? um And, you know, I'm sure their new coach is amazing, but it just, I felt really proud about that.
00:26:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah
00:26:17
Emily
I was like, oh, cool. I'm glad that that's how they remember me as a coach that really cared about them. It was really nice.
00:26:24
Raj
and And that is a literally a massive, massive compliment to you and in terms of like, I literally bet that was you were like, wow, that's all I needed to hear.
00:26:30
Emily
Yeah, loved it.
00:26:37
Raj
And I'm so glad I set these counts up because that is the reason that I set them up for like, yeah.
00:26:37
Emily
Yeah.
00:26:41
Emily
Yeah, definitely.
00:26:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
Can I just say something on that as well? like And it's it's really lovely to hear that because I currently ah coach what 18 to 22 year old university age girls and that doesn't change.
00:26:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
I've had the same feedback where it's like the difference between you, Bryony and the male coaches, have you like actually care about us and it never changes.
00:26:55
Emily
Yeah.
00:27:01
Emily
yeah yeah yeah yeah it's really important you know i i've had players now that have i've that've played for me or that i've coached in the past and like i said before like their parents will phone me about their daughter who's having a confidence crisis or
00:27:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
It doesn't matter if you're four or you're 40, you just want to feel like my coaches care more than just about what I'm doing with my football. like it's They still are the same.
00:27:31
Emily
just thinking about moving clubs or or just they've got this thing going on at school and sometimes it's nothing about football but they come to me as like just a person who they know actually cares about their daughter and who's going to give them a really you know impartial useful bit of feedback and so I don't always know the answer do you know what I mean but just it's just another person to talk to and that's kind of I don't just want I don't just want customers I want like
00:27:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:27:58
Emily
and aim high family and I want a rav um raving fans and I want people that yeah see me and see aim high as more than just a bit of coaching that they pay for once a week or whatever it is.
00:28:11
Raj
100% like a community like that.
00:28:11
Emily
um yeah
00:28:14
Raj
Yeah, that was beautiful.
00:28:15
Emily
From the heart.
00:28:17
Raj
Wow. I loved it. That was straight from the heart.
00:28:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
so
Preview of Upcoming Aim High Projects
00:28:22
Emily
Raj is actually dying inside because she sees me at camp every week like messing around and like putting the water guns out of camp and now it's like getting down to the nitty gritty.
00:28:27
Raj
ah Oh, I hate this. This poll has gone so quickly. We've only had so many more questions for you.
00:28:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
but on Yeah.
00:28:41
Raj
and I need to wrap it up with one last kind of um question. and um So tell us a bit more about um some exciting projects that you're working on, upcoming projects. If parents are listening, what exciting things have Aimhigh got coming up um that that their children can get involved in?
00:29:04
Emily
Yeah, so um we obviously have all of our holiday camps that run pretty much every school holiday. um We're based down in Badenstokes and there are day camps, nine till three, most days of the holidays.
00:29:14
Emily
um We do evening sessions on a Monday and a Tuesday. So our Monday group is for our older girls, which is under 12 to under 15. And then the Tuesday group is our under nine to under 11. I guess our biggest thing that we've got coming up is in this summer, coming up 2025, we have a residential coming up.
00:29:32
Raj
residential.
00:29:32
Emily
So yeah yeah right it's going to be there i'll obviously be there um yeah i'm honestly i could talk i could talk for half an hour about the residential i am buzzing for it so it's uh the 28th of july don't quote me on that date i'm pretty sure 28th of july to the first of August so it's four four nights five days um and it's down in Brighton um and essentially it'll
00:29:35
Raj
um no
00:29:56
Emily
similar to the day camps, we'll just play loads of football in the day, we'll do loads of activities. On the Wednesday, we'll go out and do some kind of football related trip in the evening, we'll have loads of activities, we'll have guest performances, guest coaches, loads of stuff going on. And and that is kind of born from the whole when I went to Camp America and that you get obviously you get tons out of the day camp, like you're there all day, it's great, like it's amazing. But there is nothing quite the same as like being away from your parents for a week, like going to camp like like bunking in with loads of other girls and like all that incredible stuff that happens when you've just got that freedom to go on this trip play a sport that you love like be around tons of like-minded people and yeah I'm just so so excited for it and um yeah anyone that anyone that will listen to me talk about residential I'm here for it
00:30:39
Raj
Yeah.
Excitement for New Residential Camp
00:30:48
Emily
I just, I'm really excited. So yeah, that's all, my booking's open for that. If anyone is listening, drop me an email, drop me a text. Like I'm so ready to talk to anyone. We've still got some spaces left and it's for all abilities. We have, yeah, like I say, like players coming from JPL, Warwick, Leedsham County, and we have girls coming that, you know, under 10s, under 11s that are coming. I've only played for a couple of years and we'll have enough staff and enough coaches and whatever to cater for everyone so that everyone gets exactly what they want to get out of it coaching wise.
00:31:24
Emily
But yeah, this will be a trip that when your kid is 30, 40, 50, they'll look back and be like, oh, remember that Aim High residential we went on when I was 12? Like, how amazing was that?
00:31:34
Raj
the only way to get it.
00:31:35
Emily
And they'll talk about it and think about it forever. So um yeah, I just want so many people to come.
00:31:41
Raj
That sounds insane. I want to come as a player.
00:31:44
Emily
ah I would have I would have loved like this trip when I'm planning it I'm just like why didn't this exist when I was this age like it would have been so much fun yeah honestly yeah literally
00:31:44
Raj
Can I swap?
00:31:54
Raj
Waking up with all your football mates, just knowing you're playing football for the whole rest of the day. Like, sorry, what's better than that in life?
00:32:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
Can I ask for any more Kajin?
00:32:03
Raj
Literally.
How to Connect with Aim High: Social Media and Website
00:32:06
Raj
And lastly, Emily, where where can we find you on social media? Where can we um see what you're about?
00:32:11
Emily
So my Instagram is um aim underscore high underscore FC. um And our website is www.aimhighfc.com. Everything you need to know is on there. And and yeah, I'm free for conversations, even if i if it's something that you're, you know, there's no commitment involved, have a conversation with me, see what you think. um And yeah, hopefully, if you're if you're at this point in the pod, I hope that we've kind of sold the whole idea of aim high to you. and and and what we're about and what we want to achieve, so yeah.
00:32:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'll make sure I get tagging you as well. I'll tag Emily's socials in previews and things of the podcast as well, so it'll be a bit easier for people to find.
00:32:44
Raj
You've sold it to me.
00:32:52
Emily
Yeah, wicked, thank you so much.
00:32:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
No worries.
00:32:54
Raj
Incredible.
Closing Remarks and Future Collaborations
00:32:56
Raj
Well, thank you so much for coming on. It's been an absolute pleasure having you.
00:32:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yep. Thank you for your time. Appreciated a lot.
00:33:02
Emily
Yeah, thank you for having me.
00:33:07
Raj
we'll have you again at some point, maybe post-residential to see how it went.
00:33:13
Emily
I'll be looking a bit more tired.
00:33:13
Raj
but and
00:33:15
Emily
I did four nights of no sleep.
00:33:15
Raj
yeah
00:33:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
um
00:33:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
The weather will be a bit nicer though, it won't be as cold as it is now.
00:33:21
Emily
Yeah, yeah, yeah, true.
00:33:22
Raj
Yeah, exactly.
00:33:23
Emily
Maybe I'll be tanned but tired.
00:33:25
Raj
Yeah, don't get tired. Yeah, we'll take them up. All right, well, thank you so much. And thank you everyone for joining us. And we look forward to working you to the next episode of Beyond the Pitch. See you later, guys.
00:33:38
Emily
Thanks, guys.
00:33:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you for listening.