Sunderland Women Head Coach Mel Reay offered her thoughts on a very positive week off the pitch and looked ahead to Sunday’s game.
The Club announced a hybrid playing model for the team earlier in the week, a hugely positive step in the eyes of the Head Coach.
“In terms of the hybrid system, staying in the league was massive because this wouldn’t have been able to happen if we didn’t.
“It’s a huge step forward and the plan would be over the next two to three years for everyone to be full time, but we’re going in the right direction.
“We know the league is professional and we have to move with the times in order to compete so this will give players the opportunity to have more training sessions and learn more and be better for it. The big thing is to have the right recovery as well.
“It allows players to stay in education and still access sessions, and it also allows the part-time players who don’t want to give up their careers the opportunity to still play football at a high level.”
The Club’s Women’s Professional Game Academy was also announced this week. Reay was delighted with the further development of the pathway.
“The academy has been the missing piece of the jigsaw.
“The pathway has always been there, the RTC, the Centre of Excellence in the old days, and this gap has always been there.
“It’s important that the Club and the Foundation [of Light] have come together to put a bid which has been accepted to bridge the path between grassroots RTC football to senior football.
“We hope that this team can be really competitive in a good division and likewise it’ll strengthen the Under-23 programme as well.
“It’s a huge moment for the Club and it’s an exciting time for the pathway because we want to generate our own. That’s what we’re known for, the players that have come through, so now the dream for and under-9 female football player is exactly the same as a male player that they can be a professional footballer and that’s priceless.
“The way the game is in the limelight now as well, now girls don’t need to leave the North East, they can stay from under-10s all the way through to the senior team.
“I envisage the academy, they’ll train three times a week, play on a Wednesday afternoon and alongside the first-team training sessions during the day as well, there’ll be times that there’ll cross over.
“There’ll be opportunities for players to step up as there has been for three currently since January. They’ve been training with the first team on a Tuesday which has been a big step forward in their development.
“It’s an opportunity to stretch and challenge them and make sure they’re ready for when they’re needed.”
Reay discussed the tough results that the team have had over the past couple of weeks, stating them as good “learning opportunities”.
“It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks. We’ve been disappointed with our performances and we’ve been working really hard in training to try and put that right and finish on a high.
“The ultimate aim was to stay in the league and we’ve done that with plenty time to go which was important but in this league it’s really cutthroat in that if you lose concentration or make individual errors you get punished.
“These are all learning opportunities and hopefully they’ll be stronger for that next season.”
Finally, the Lasses Head Coach offered her assessment of Sunday’s opponents, who sit just one place above Sunderland in the league.
“They got their first win of 2023 the other night so they’re going to be travelling in good spirits and there’s nothing to lose for both teams.
“They’re a decent team, they’re very similar to us in the fact they’ve had ups and downs throughout the season and we want to try and be at our best in order to get a good result.”
“In terms of pride and finishing above each other that’s what we want to achieve on Sunday.