Sport / Women’s team ‘up for the challenge’ after Island Games draw
Coach Carrie Morrison says they want to lead team out at Faroe games in 2027 too
IT IS time to get “Shetland back on the map for women’s football”, new coach Carrie Morrison says.
Girls and women’s football has been going from strength to strength in the isles for the last decade, with a strong set-up ranging from the youngest age groups right up to seniors.
Young players have continually tested themselves against boys in the junior leagues, and have regularly travelled to the mainland to face higher level opposition.
Now – 20 years after their last appearance – Shetland will be back on the Island Games stage in the women’s football competition in Orkney next summer, marking a massive milestone in the growth of the girls’ game.
Morrison was part of the squad who last tasted Island Games action in 2005, appearing in all three fixtures.
And now she has been tasked – alongside an impressive coaching team of Kevin Main, Niall Bristow and Adam Priest – of leading the blues back out at the games.
“It was a great experience to be involved in the games up here,” she said.
“That’s what we’ll be saying to the girls, to go and enjoy it.”
Morrison had been training and playing with the Shetland women’s team when Shetland Girls and Women’s FC announced they would be looking for a coaching team to lead them to the games – and beyond.
She said she had been encouraged to put herself forward for the role by her team-mates.
“Some of the players told me to go for it, but I was saying ‘I don’t know, I still enjoy playing football’,” Morrison said.
“But then I thought, ‘no, this is the right time’.
“I’ve already got that kind of connection with them, so it’s going to be good.”
“We know that it’s going to be tough games, but we’re up for the challenge” – Carrie Morrison
Both her and Priest, who is the secretary for Shetland Girls and Women’s FC, know the players well, which Morrison says will be a bonus.
Main and Bristow are the newcomers to the set-up, but come with bona fide experience – both having previously led the men’s senior team to inter-county success.
And Bristow also has an Island Games gold medal in his trophy cabinet to point to, after coaching the men’s side to home success in 2005.
The four of them found out the scale of their task next summer earlier in the week, when the draw for the men’s and women’s football competitions was made in Orkney.
Gold medallists Bermuda lie in wait for the returning ladies, with Jersey and Isle of Wight their other opponents in a difficult group.
Morrison said she is “excited” about the challenge of taking on top seeds Bermuda, who won the women’s competition last year without conceding a single goal.
“The top scorer for them last year plays in the USA, so they have a really good squad,” she said.
“Going up against a team like that, we can take a lot from it.
“We played them in 2005 and we were saying, ‘I hope it’s wind and rain because they won’t be used to that’.
“Unfortunately I think it was wet in the morning and then blue skies for the game in the afternoon.
“Hopefully we can get some gales in Orkney.”
She said the teams Shetland will face are a “big step up”, but a welcome test for their players.
“We know that it’s going to be tough games, but we’re up for the challenge,” she added.
Morrison said the aim of next year’s games is to “get Shetland back on the map for women’s football”.
“We’ll hopefully get to the mainland for some games, and then if we get the new synthetic pitch it would be good if possible to get some teams up to Shetland.
“Then we’ll start looking at the Faroe games two years later.
“We [the coaching team] have all said we want to be involved long term – we’re not just aiming for next year’s games.”
In the aftermath of Shetland competing in the 2005 games, a women’s league was set up and proved popular for several years.
Morrison said that had been a good initiative, but at the time it felt players loyalties were split between football and then more popular women’s sports like netball and hockey.
“I would say now that a lot of girls and ladies are just playing football, which is great to see,” she said.
“In 2005 we had quite a strong team, but we didn’t have the set-up we have now, girls playing from under nine and up.
“I think Shetland is in a really strong place to go forward.”
Shetland take on Orkney tomorrow (Saturday) in Kirkwall, but Morrison and the new coaching team have decided not to take up the reins for that fixture – instead leaving it to the previous coaches, who have already trained the ladies for the match.
She encouraged anyone interested in being part of Shetland Girls and Women’s FC to “just come along and give it a go”.
The club is holding an open training session this weekend at the Clickimin, with spaces for every age group available.
Times can be found on the Shetland Girls and Women’s Football Club Facebook page.
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