Lily Daly - My baby girl

chapter 14

Today was the day of my first match with the academy at AVWFC. I was nervous yet excited but couldn't wait to experience it, as I had never experienced something so big before. Obviously back when I was at school with daisy we played a handful of schools, but they were nowhere near this level of talent. It would also be my first match without daisy on the field with me, so I was a bit worried but deep down I knew she would be cheering me on from back home.

Jaqueline our coach wanted us to come in at 9 so that we could have a short training session, before heading to the Durham academy for the match which was at 5. I like Jaqueline as her coaching style worked really well with my training style, and more importantly, she was just really nice and caring. On the other hand, the girls were at every spectrum of liking-ness there was: a few girls were kind of neutral (talking to me when needed but not really making an effort, just being friendly basically) some girls were really nice straight off the bat but then once I had found friends kinda went back to their little group, one group of girls didn't like me from the start and continuously don't like me (they don't even make the effort, just stand and judge but to be honest I don't really care), and then you get to my group, they didn't love that a new girl was joning mid-season (understandable) but eventually they warmed up to me and we are getting on really well. Those girls are Lucinda Taylor, Isla Davies, Harper McNeil and Niamh Hatt. First of all, you have Lucinda, but everyone calls her Luce or Lucy. Lucy has a bubbly character and was the first one to warm up to me (almost instantly), she is blonde like me with brown eyes and is slightly taller; she has a unique sense of humour and a witty personality. Then you have Isla, she is the strawberry blond of our group (and she has told us that is very different to ginger), she is fairly short but makes up for it with her massive personality. Next is Harper, she is your typical brunette, naturally beautiful, shy girl, but when you are on the pitch with her she erupts and is on fire; even though I haven't gotten to see every side of Harper yet, I still love the sides I have seen. And finally, you have Niamh. Niamh, is the tall tomboy of the group, she has long blonde curly hair (which always ends up in a messy bun), and beautiful blue eyes; she has an I don't give a fuck attitude, yet also an I totally give a fuck attitude without making a big deal. I would say so far I am closest with Lucy out of the rest of the girls, but something about everyone one of them intrigues me making me want to know more, especially Niamh. Collectively they were really kind and accepted me to the point that it now feels like I have known them for years when in reality it has only been a couple of weeks. The only thing is, is that they still don't know that my mum is Rachel Daly as I have asked her and the girls on the senior team to let my teammates get to know me and like me as me instead of because of them, so we will see how that goes down.

As I was packing my bag, I made sure everything I would need was in my bag due to the over 3-hour journey up to Durham. Once I was packed, I made my way downstairs to get ready to leave and go to the training grounds with my mum. My outfit consisted of my training kit and a pair of funky Adidas trainers out of one of their closets (the best thing about them both being sponsored by Adidas is that we get first dibs and discounts on the stuff, so I just steal it all haha), I had also packed my team sweatpants as well as my mums old(er) AVWFC jumper (well it had technically become mine since I wear it more than her now). I quickly grabbed a protein bar and filled up my water bottle, before chucking my bags in the boot of the car and starting the journey to the training ground with my mum.

We are usually quite early because mum insists we leave at a certain time so that we can still be on time if we hit any traffic on route due to our longish journey down. Mum helped me drop off my bags in the academy changing rooms before we made our way to the senior canteen/team room. Since the senior team were training at the same time as us, lots of the girls were already there meaning I had time to get the nerves out and talk to them before sneaking away and meeting my friends. We spoke to Ruesha for a bit which I am glad we did because she put me in a good mood, as well as Anna and Olivia before Hamps came in and as per usual stole me away. I had grown to really like and appreciate Hannah, she was like my big sister that I never knew I wanted or needed. I ended up staying with the seniors for around 30 minutes until I received a message from Lucy saying that she and the girls were wondering where I was, so I told them that I would meet them in the changing room. I quickly said goodbye to my mum and her team before swiftly exiting the room, making sure no one from my team saw me.