Sport / Anderson aiming for first team action after going from Burra to Burgh
A TEENAGER is looking to lend a safe pair of hands between the sticks after swapping Burra for Dryburgh Athletic.
Goalkeeper Katie Anderson has signed with the Scottish Women’s Football (SWF) Championship side after moving down to study at college in Dundee last month.
The 18-year-old now has her sights set on cementing herself as the first name on the team sheet for her new club – and earning a place in the Shetland squad for next year’s Island Games in Orkney.
Anderson knows Dryburgh’s players from her time training with the BGK Academy in Dundee, with a Loganair sponsorship deal helping her continue her development on the mainland for the 18 months.
She said she was delighted to officially sign with the club after moving down to the City of Discovery to study.
“I’d gone to some training sessions with the girls at Dryburgh but it was never really specified if I was going to sign,” Anderson said.
“So I still had to impress them.
“I was hoping that was what was going to happen [signing with Dryburgh]. It’s a really good environment in training, it’s such a good atmosphere.”
Anderson will test herself against sides like Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Falkirk and Glasgow Girls and Women’s FC.
Dryburgh face an away trip to Glasgow this weekend to face the latter side.
The teenager said the level of opposition Dryburgh face is “quite a big step up” from what she is used to, having represented Shetland for the last ten years.
“They [Dryburgh] are a really good team, but the games here are all played to a really high standard,” she said.
“I always want to be starting in the first team, but coming from Shetland, coming from a different place, I just really want to play the best I can.”
Anderson has already donned the Dryburgh goalkeeper’s jersey for 30 minutes in a recent friendly, and is hoping to make it her own in the weeks to come.
She is balancing training twice a week in Dundee with her college work, where she is studying sports coaching and development, as well as helping coach at the BGK Academy.
On top of that are the long journeys to away games at weekends, with a more than five hour round trip to Inverness to come in a fortnight.
But for Anderson – who said last year she wanted to emulate European Championship winning goalkeeper Mary Earps – it is all part and parcel of soaking up the life of a young footballer.
Having cut her teeth playing football for Shetland in the isles, she encouraged more young girls to “go for it and see what happens” – like she has.
And after her debut campaign with Dryburgh, she has her eyes fixed on starting between the sticks for Shetland at next year’s Island Games in Orkney.
Speaking days after the Shetland Women’s coaching team was revealed, Anderson said she would “love” to be part of next year’s squad at the Island Games.
“I played for Shetland for 10 years, and I’ve seen it grow from just the one team to what it is now,” she said.
“I don’t even know how many age groups there are now.
“But that’s definitely something I would love, I would love to play for the Shetland Island Games team.”
Anderson thanked all of her coaches in Shetland for helping her throughout the years, as well as her Dryburgh team-mates for being so welcoming and accepting.
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