We speak to Head Coach Melanie Reay about the college’s football academy and their recruitment process…
School leavers can face a bewildering array of choices and options. Do they want to continue their education? What qualifications or careers do they wish to pursue? Where do they want to study? How far do they want to travel? Where are their mates going? What will they do for money?
Thankfully, there are a lot of great institutions providing many different opportunities, including the chance to develop sporting skills alongside traditional academic pursuits or vocational courses. And now is a busy time for students making those important choices.
Few establishments have as successful a reputation, particularly on the football field, as Gateshead College, in Tyne & Wear. We asked Head Coach at Gateshead College’s Women’s Football Academy, Melanie Reay, all about the college’s programme and their recruitment process…
SK: When does the major recruitment period kick in or are there different phases to it?
MR: Recruitment is on-going throughout the year but our main push comes between October and December when we utilise Manchester City and England’s Jill Scott, after the WSL 1 season finishes. Jill has been working with us for a number of years now, after coming through our college system herself. She is a fantastic role model for the girls who choose to study with us. Jill goes into the local clubs and schools to promote our college to the U16s and myself and the other coaches continue the recruitment drive after the New Year. #choosegateshead
SK: Do players have to complete trials?
MR: We don’t expect players to trial like some colleges do. We also have no cap on the amount of players we take in. The academy caters for everyone’s ability and offers every player the chance to develop to their desired potential
SK: What can successful applicants expect from their 2-3 years?
MR All the players who choose Gateshead can expect an excellent education combined with the opportunity to become a better footballer. We offer full time courses in A Levels or BTEC’s alongside 10+ hours a week in the Academy. You receive three sessions a week on the training pitch with myself and my coaching team, two sessions a week in the gym with our strength and conditioning coaches and you play games on a Wednesday afternoon for one of our two teams we have.
SK: How many girls are in a normal intake?
MR: We normally intake 20-30 new first years every September. With the first years then moving to second year, we carry roughly around 45 players each year, enabling us to run the two teams.
SK: Do they work alongside sportswomen and sportsmen who excel in other sports?
MR: The girls get the chance to train alongside a huge variation of athletes in our elite gym. We have the England footballers who come home after the WSL season and train at the college including Jill Scott, Carly Telford, Steph Houghton, Lucy Bronze and Lucy Staniforth. We also have 2012 GB trampoline Gymnast Kat Driscoll, Lyndon Longhorne a future Rio 2016 Paralympic Swimmer, Newcastle Falcons, England Women’s Rugby players Katy McClean (captain) and Tamara Taylor and Josef Craig a Paralympic swimmer who won gold at 2012 GB Olympics and was Young Sports Personality of Year 2012. A fantastic opportunity to see first-hand what it takes to be the best!
SK: You have some famous graduates of the College’s football programme in Jill Scott, Carly Telford and Demi Stokes but there are many, many others. Want to give us a quick run through alumni?
MR: This list could go on for ages. I’ll apologise in advance for those who I’ve missed off. Here we go (deep breath): we have the England girls Jill Scott, Carly Telford and now Demi Stokes; we then have the current Sunderland girls who will now play in the new WSL2, Rachael Laws, Sophie Williams, Megan Beer (now a part of my coaching team). Keira Ramshaw, Vicky Greenwell, Steph Bannon, Abbey Joice, Lauren Briggs, Helen Alderson, Rachel Furness and Natalie Gutteridge. It’s nice to be reunited with them all now I’m Sunderland’s Assistant Manager. Also Sam Etherington, Sarah Lowdon, Molly Collinson and Jane Latif who are all currently in the U.S. on scholarships. Then the girls who have played for Newcastle United WFC including Sarah Wilson, Steph and Sarah Eadon, Elizabeth Fraser, Beth Gardener, who all also represented the ECFA National Team. The college has attracted so many players over the years and I’m extremely proud that these girls chose to be a part of Gateshead.
SK: What sets Gateshead College apart from other local colleges and particularly for players wanting to combine their football with their studies?
MR: I have been at the college 11 years now and know how hard it is to establish your programme. We have worked really hard over the years to improve what we offer to players and can now boast we are one of the best in the country. We have fantastic facilities which are only going to improve, we currently have two 3g pitches and a grass pitch, we have two gyms, an indoor track and an outdoor track. Our staff have excellent credentials who can give the students a fantastic experience, on and off the field. One of the biggest things is the list of players that have chosen Gateshead and have gone on to fulfil their potential at higher levels.
SK: Who are some of the famous and inspirational people to have visited the students and even done a bit of coaching with them over the last few years?
MR: The College had Dame Kelly Holmes come in to deliver her education programme to our students. The girls thoroughly embraced the programme and Kelly rewarded them by attending our National Playoff Final at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke, where we beat Bristol 5-0. A fantastic day for the girls and something they will never forget. Also England captain Casey Stoney came in to deliver a master class to the girls, as part of Kelly’s programme, and the girls were also involved in a Q&A with her, which was a fantastic chance for them to ask the England captain anything they wanted. We got great feedback from Casey, she was very impressed with the girls and said she could coach them every day.
SK: Isn’t Gateshead’s record in national competitions amongst the best, if not THE best?
MR: We had a fantastic season last year, it was the best so far, the 1st team won all 4 National titles including the ECFA Elite League, ECFA U19 Knockout Cup which we won at St Georges Park beating Reading 5-1, English Schools U18 Colleges Cup beating Bristol 3-0 at Mansfield Town FC and the National Playoff Final at the Britannia as I mentioned previously. The second team also won the North East Colleges League which was a fantastic achievement.
SK: Is the College’s football programme part of a clearly set out development pathway, with talent feeding in and also links with clubs at various levels for players to exit to?
MR: We have got an excellent development pathway now in place with the Sunderland/Gateshead Centre of Excellence based at the college. This ranges from U9 to U17s. We ideally recruit the U17s into the college programme and they will exit into Sunderland’s Development Team and hopefully Sunderland First Team. We do have girls who play for other local clubs including Durham, NUWFC, Blyth, and Cestria who we have good relationships with we work together to ensure the girls reach their full potential.
SK: How big is your catchment area? How far away is TOO far away for students to come to Gateshead?
MR: I have girls contacting me via our website from all over the world wanting to come to Gateshead. Unfortunately, we do not have residential opportunities, maybe in the future but not yet. We attract girls from all over the North East, previously we had Sunderland forward Natalie Gutteridge who travelled every day from Bishop Auckland and currently we have Holly Jackman who travels from Newton. Some Local Authorities offer free travel to students in their area, if they are travelling outside the county for a specialist opportunity at Gateshead. For girls who struggle with the cost of travel we have certain ways in which we can try and help, including applying through our College Foundation. One of the best stories about recruitment is our current second year student Emily Ellis. Her family were in Germany through her dad being in the British Army. She wanted to study and play football and travelled the UK looking for the right college for her to achieve this and she chose Gateshead. Her whole family have now relocated to the North East. A fascinating success story for our college.
SK: Do you think having been one of the first players to play/study at a college ‘academy’ yourself, give you an added insight into what students want/need to be successful?
MR: I was invited to study at East Durham College in 1998 when Ted Copeland (Ex England Manager) and Simon Smith (England Youth GK Coach) were setting up the first ever female football academy. I thought my dream had come true, studying and playing football! The college was too far away to commute on a daily basis from my family’s home in Cramlington and I couldn’t drive then so I had to live there. A lot of the girls were residential as they recruited the best 20 girls in the country at that time. It was an unbelievable experience and one I will never forget. I learnt so many things in my two years there and became a much better footballer through the full time training I was given. I can now use the experiences I gained and help the current and future Gateshead girls achieve their dreams.
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