The Power of “Of Course I Will”
By Christine McKie
A schoolgirl named Lucy had a dream to be the best footballer in the world.
Each night she would lie awake and imagine how it would feel to run out onto the pitch at Wembley in her white shirt with the three lions badge on the front and Lucy emblazoned in blue letters on the back. She imagined the crowd cheering as she ran up to the goal and scored that winning goal that meant England won the world cup – Not just any world cup but a world cup in her homeland…
Every day at school, Lucy would share this dream with her friends.
Every morning on the way to school she would walk with her girlfriends and tell them all about her dreams the previous night. The girls would always respond saying “Lucy you’re a great footballer but you’ll never play for England”. She would respond “Of course I will!”
At breaktime & lunchtime, Lucy would join the boys on the school field and practice scoring that all important goal… The boys would tell her “Lucy you’re a great footballer but you’ll never play for England”. She would respond “Of course I will!”
At the tea table on an evening Lucy would plead with her parents to take her to watch her favourite team so that she could study the strikers as they scored that winning goal. They would respond “Lucy we’ll take you to see the match but please remember you won’t play for England”. She would respond “Of course I will!”
Lucy continued to dream every night and practice every day, she really believed that she could change the mould and get to play for England.
Lucy joined the local football team and shared her dreams, she trained hard with the boys and continued to practice every night. Eventually she became captain of the team, the boys all complained “This is a boys’ team, we should be the captain” but the team manager kept Lucy as captain.
The next year the local professional team sent a scout to Lucy’s club to watch Joe, Lucy’s teammate. They couldn’t believe their luck not only was Joe an amazing player, but they also found this girl who was amazing too. Lucy was recruited as the first girl in the academy.
Lucy’s dreams continued and she truly believed she was the best. As a teenager Lucy still dreamt every night of playing for England.
A couple of years later and Lucy finally got her big break, and she ran out onto that pitch at Wembley, alongside Lucy Bronze and Steph Haughton. Her dream had come true she was now playing for England. The crowd cheered and the excitement was profound. Finally, Lucy kicked the ball and BOOOM in hit the back of the net. All her dreams had come true….
