Kiveton Park Football Club player Emily receives Nationwide Mutual Respect Award

The Nationwide Mutual Respect Award, as part of The England Football Respect Campaign, aims to help make grassroots football more respectful and positive.

Introduced just last year, the award recognises outstanding contributions, achievements and behaviour in grassroots football across the country by young players, coaches, teams, parents and referees.

The recommendation from Emily’s community for the Nationwide Mutual Respect Award said: “Emily has loved football since she could walk but for many years she was always the only girl in a boys' world.

“She never let this bother her and has continued to play for the last 25 years. Her passion for growing the girls game is amazing. She currently plays, coaches a girls’ team and is the girls’ coach at her local club.

“She is always looking for ways to increase inclusivity in the club and ensure the game is accessible to all.

“Her most recent project has been to develop a neurodiversity awareness training for coaches, referees and parents. It has been so successful the local FA have asked for it to be delivered to a wider audience.

“It provides great knowledge that will ensure coaches can make adjustments during training and games to make them more inclusive for players with learning disabilities and other challenges.”

Emily went on to say: “I am overwhelmed to win the Nationwide Mutual Respect award for July.

“In addition to being coach at Kiveton Park Football Club, I am the girls' secretary for the club and a player for our ladies' section. Football has always been a passion of mine and due to many hurdles that I had to overcome as a youngster and extremely passionate about progressing the game.

"I am keen that they have positive role models across many areas of football that they can look up to and take great pride in coaching girls on their grassroots journey.

"All my sessions are inclusive and accessible. Recently, I identified that coaches within our club were struggling to make their sessions inclusive for all, specifically neurodiverse players, I love to ensure that all abilities can get involved in the game and have fun.

"I used my experience to build an awareness session for coaches. This had a positive impact on our club, so much so our local FA have now asked that I deliver this session more broadly across our region.

"Also during the Euros, I supported many of our young local players by coordinating them to carry flags and be player mascots at the Championships, providing them with role models and visions that they can aim for."

If you know someone you would like to nominate for the monthly Nationwide Mutual Respect Award, you can find further details here:

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/about-us/mutual-respect/mutual-respect-award

Nominations for the award close at 11.59 pm on the 21st of each month.