Learnings from the Lionesses' with Jill Scott, Steph Houghton, Alex Scott and Phil Neville

0:29It's Jake and Damien here from the High Performance Podcast. it we've got Jill Scott a member of the European Championship winning team Queen of the Jungle and the amazing Steph Harton okay let's start then with Steph when she joined us on High Performance we had an awesome conversation here she is when I was younger there wasn't that much of a legacy and there wasn't that much to kind of aspire to be whereas now I know that I've been a part of a legacy of women's football over the last 10-12 years. I think back to the Olympics in 2012, I think that was probably a biggest watershed moment for women's football to get that many people watching on telly and at the stadium and for us to go and win was unbelievable and that really put women's football on the map.

1:15I look back to 2015 when we won a bronze medal in Canada. Never ever expected, we didn't expect to go and get anything but to come home with a medal and know that everybody's watching back home and knowing when you come back that you have been living in a little bit of a bubble and people are actually knowing your name and wearing your shirt which was a special feeling so I think there's so much more we can achieve but I'd like to know that we have been a part of something special over the last few years So that was Steph Horton now let's hear from Jill Scott England's roaming midfielder and a star of the European Championship winning team when we got to the final I always remember we said look we know what we want to do want to inspire a nation we want to get the crowd behind us we just want to leave women's football in a better place and I remember by that semi-final when we won it I felt like we'd done that the crowds were so supportive even the first day at Old Trafford I felt like you know what we don't have to bang the drum about women and girls playing football so we can actually just go out and enjoy this tournament and I feel like that's what happened and going into that final I didn't feel like we were under pressure to win it because I felt like we'd already won in a sense I'm like we've got 90 ,000 people that we've given an opportunity to see an England Germany final yeah obviously the gold was going to be the icing on the cake but there was no pressure that day it was weird the final whistle goes you've won the Euros you've done it on home soil you've played your part what goes through your mind I've still got goosebumps now when you say that I have, what are you telling me?

2:48Literally. You know what? I ran straight over to Kira, who'd been playing, obviously, centre midfield. And I think I'd just give her the biggest hug. I thought she was absolutely fantastic throughout the tournament. And I think I just said, I just love you. Thank you so much. And I was like, yeah, I can't even put them feelings into words. I really can't. I was like, just won the Euros. And I stayed out on that pitch for about two hours after. I was like, I just don't want to leave this moment. but yeah you just you don't want to give cliche answers but it's like everything that you've ever wanted just happened but you know what the biggest thing now is I don't reflect on that moment as much like as I say I haven't watched the game back but I'm just so happy that now we have a bit of fight and talk as young girls and like women that our girls can't play football well actually we're one of you Rose and I think them young girls can just step into the school field and they can play with the boys and there'll be girls playing as well and there's just no questions asked and I get so many dads coming up to us and some of them will go can I get a picture for my daughter and the mate will go he hasn't got a daughter but there's so many that come up to us and they're like you know what my daughter plays now and they're like I'm going to kill you because I've got to stand on the side of the pitch now because I've got my son on the morning and then my daughter on the afternoon and honestly it just makes us like so happy.

4:07Oh it was so good to chat to Jill Scott also she makes a great coffee she has her own coffee shop doesn't she yep in Manchester absolutely the best city in the world after Norwich um so as well as hearing from Jill we also spoke with Alex Scott I mean this was an incredibly moving and brave conversation that she shared with us here's Alex my version of high performance I'm really big on mindsets to be honest so I think the difference between being a good athlete or in that bracket the high performance part is about that mindset that takes you to that next level to be really elite and keep you there performing at such a high performance um which i think is coming out more and more in the sport world and not even just in sport world i think in business like how can you tap into things to help you know keep you there so where did that mindset come from then are we talking about you know an 11 year old alex scott who was like mentally solid and stable and pushing herself to the limit or as we often find with people is this a process of growth?

5:13I would say it's a process of growth and for me understanding myself more but I think when I go back to where I grew up in East London playing in a football cage there was kind of a survival instinct in there you know having to fight for my place in the football cage with the boys having to prove people that I was good enough and having a dream that I wanted to get beyond that football cage so I think there was a lot of elements in that and I think you throw in on top of that fear fear of being stuck or fear of not being able to look after myself I always say that you know I managed to get 140 caps for England and sometimes you'd have teammates or people assuming that you were the favorite that's why you got picked but I actually every game I played for England had a strong element of fear that it would be my last that it was taken away that I had to go out and be the best because you know I might not get picked for the next game I think that's a really powerful thing to share with people because people see you and assume there's no fear because life's successful what about the Alex Scott sitting in front of us today how prevalent is fear in the life you live now it's always there and to be honest I think that's what keeps me going working so hard because it's always that I've got to prove people that I'm good enough or flip that as well I don't want to let anyone down that's then showed that faith in me to put me in a position or given me a job or picked me in the first team for Arsenal so I suppose it's that fear and I've got you know in my performance thank someone for for believing in me and seeing some something in me so we've heard from three players I think we should hear from a coach and actually before we hear from Phil Neville he gave us probably the greatest summary of high performance we've ever heard didn't he yeah so we met Phil opposite the Old Trafford football ground where we first made his name and where him his brother and a few others from that generation have set up a hotel and he told us that high performance to him is doing the best you can with what you've got in the moment you're in and that was very much what he was describing to us of what he was trying to instill in the lionesses when he was in charge there here he is this is what happened when phil neville spoke to us on the podcast until you've lived in the shoes you never know how they're going to feel and i went into the women's job and my sister my sister used to say all this and that and used to say get on with it you'll be all right oh you're on the telly last week you'll be all right yeah and then when you're actually living in the shoes of a female athlete you think this is not right that the prejudice the the homophobia the the sexism the the the lack of equality every single day is a fight every single day you think you're winning then you take us two steps back every single day you you fight you fight like you possibly can to make things better for a group of girls that are the most unbelievable group of people i've ever i've ever been involved in all my life and some days you win some days you lose and it's it's until you hear the obstacles the and like i say when i was a footballer my sister used to come home from these camps and She used to go to training on a Sunday morning in East Grinstead, three hours there, three hours back.

8:29Oh, well done. How are you doing? Good session. But actually, you look back now and think, oh, ignorant. Ignorant was me and my brother to actually what she was going through. Why didn't we put a driver on for her? Why didn't we put a driver on for her? Why didn't we fund something a little bit better back then than now getting now? But because you're not in the shoes of that person, because you're not in the shoes of a female, you just never know. You just never know. And I can actually sort of like relate now to people saying, oh, we've made great strides. Oh, we're doing okay. Well, actually, there's still, still my girls are fighting every single day now.

9:11We were winning. For two years, we were beginning to break down barriers. I think we've took a massive step back now and people have forgot female sport. No netball, no hockey, no female sport played for the last three to four months. not even on the agenda of any boardroom in any sport in any industry correct and i'm like to change that you're gonna have to change at the top you have to change at the top you have to get people you have to get females you have to uh black people on the boards before it starts infiltrating down so i'm going on it from a point of doing that it's been the biggest learning experience ever when it went in my first camp normally when you you get a new uh new player and you sing a song and everyone films it.

9:51They stand up there and they speak about their career, their life, their obstacles. And literally there was one girl, Abby McManus, I'll never forget. She stood up there, she told the journey. I had tears in my eyes. Tears in my eyes about the journeys, the fact that she was a kit lady. Then she got changed and went out onto the pitch and came back in and washed everyone's kit. And I was like, that didn't happen. Do you know what I mean? But we were ignorant to all that because actually people probably didn't care because our lives were okay. so so now when obviously i'm coming to the end of my time with the lionesses i'm thinking i'm not finished with promoting female sports uh women's athletes and and uh because ultimately until you've lived in the arena with with the most amazing set of girls who who all they want to do is do the best thing they possibly can for the coach for the organization uh it's been like a breath of fresh air so there you go phil neville on the high performance podcast oh I'm cheering on the Lionesses you know this summer I think they can I think so I think as we often say confidence comes from evidence and they've got plenty of evidence that they're capable yeah and you know people are often saying when is Serena Vigman coming on high performance can I just point out not only have we asked we've asked five or six different people we've tried to attack this from numerous different routes like we will not rest until Serena comes on high performance and tells us how she turned around the mindset and the results of the Lionesses will we no we won't But I think the fact that we haven't quite yet been able to get her on is an indication of her laser light focus on the task in hand.

11:24And hopefully once she can reflect on a successful World Cup campaign, she might give herself a little bit of time to come and share those insights. Serena, the door is open. Damo, thank you very much. And for you listening, we'll see you soon for plenty more from the High Performance Podcast.