AFC Bournemouth women’s team goalkeeper Katie Scadding and full-back Abby Jones have been teammates, playing alongside one another for five seasons. But their partnership has extended to coaching, as the pair have taken charge Bournemouth University’s women’s first team.
The duo take a lead with coaching and the management of the side alongside their responsibilities for the AFC Bournemouth women’s team, and their roles within the AFC Bournemouth Community Trust.
Supporting coaching at the university is a benefit of the partnership between BU and the Cherries, a partnership now in its 11th season, with BU men’s and women’s footballers enjoying coaching from the Club.
Speaking about the coaching role, Katie Scadding said, “It’s been a new experience for us both, but we’ve enjoyed every moment coaching the BU women’s team. As always when coaching a team, we’ve had a few challenges along the way especially the 8am training starts twice a week! But we’ve had a lot of success with the team, and we can’t thank the players enough for sticking by us and for all their efforts on and off the pitch.
The lessons learned by the pair on the pitch are being translated in their coaching, as Abby Jones explains, “From day one, we’ve always said that we wanted a competitive but fun environment as we believe when you enjoy something you’re more successful. The players have done well at sticking by this and keeping it fun, competitive and they’ve worked hard throughout.”
The team have just played their final game of the season in the BUCS (British Universities & Colleges Sport) league, where they faced local rivals Solent, Abby continued, “I think everyone would agree with beating Solent in the last game of the season at home, especially after finding ourselves 2-0 down at half time. It was a nice way to wrap up a successful season and the team fully deserved it and it proves the hard working mindset that we’ve instilled in the team along with their character and dedication.”
The coaching support given by AFC Bournemouth is a benefit of the partnership work of the university and the Club, with BU the official higher education partner of AFC Bournemouth. BU’s logo appears on the matchday and training kit of the women’s and girls’ teams, as BU is the principal partner. This partnership has provided opportunities for BU sports science students to work closely with the women’s team, supporting pre-season performance testing, with placement students working closely with the team too.
Katie Scadding said of the partnership between BU and AFC Bournemouth, “Everyone knows how big and successful the partnership is between us and BU, and this is one way it shows. It’s allowed us to have a different experience to coach within a new environment and to have a lot of opportunities which has allowed us to progress as individuals and coaches. We’ve been lucky enough to use the new facility at Chapel Gate and I know this has been a big benefit not just for us but for the students to have access at a fantastic facility.”
AFC Bournemouth women’s team play Keynsham Ladies at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday 24 March 2024, in a match designated as a BU Big Match in celebration of the partnership between the two organisations. For more information about the partnership, visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/afc-bournemouth.
