Lindsey, a business owner and offensive line player for the woman’s
Great Britain’s American football team answers some questions surrounding her
transition from cheerleading to football, supplementary training and coaching
at university level.
Tell us a
bit about yourself
I’m Lindsey Robson, I’m 26 and by day I’m a florist.
Being a florist is something I love, I have two shops through which I do
demonstrations in the local community. The rest of my life is all football,
between coaching, playing and watching I don’t have much time for anything
else. Except my two lovely dogs.
You progressed from cheerleading to
American Football. Was this transition easy, and do you feel that having a
background in cheerleading has helped you within the new sport and to reach
where you are today?
I was a cheerleader for ten years but for the best part
of that I did game day cheerleading for Teesside University. To start with I
knew nothing about the game but after watching a few times I really got into it. So as soon as there was a women’s team I jumped at the chance to join. I
actually didn’t realise how little I really knew about the sport and I was
hooked. Unfortunately with cheerleading you train all year for a two minute
thirty second routine (plus other stunt and dance routines) and if I were to
get injured playing a contact sport then I would have been letting thirty plus
people down, so after nearly half of my life I left. Without cheerleading I
would never have found football.
Do you feel there is anything the two
sports can learn from each other?
Some of the fundamentals of the sport are similar. We
have a similar squat position to begin lifts and tosses in cheer as the
“contact” position in football. There is also the same element of protection,
four bases are in charge of making sure the flyer doesn’t hit the floor, the
same as five linemen protecting the quarterback. I feel that in this country
cheerleading should try to adopt the more regimented style of American football,
but a lot of the skills are transferable as are the attitudes. I have been hurt
and have had just as many bruises from both sports. Both teams have the joint
drive to win and succeed. Your team does become your life and you family.
What is it like playing in a sport which is
a predominately perceived male sport?
I get a lot of the same questions and banter as the guys.
“Why don’t you play rugby?” “Isn’t it just padded rugby?” “I didn’t even know
there was American football in the UK.” I think there is a general lack of
understanding around the sport as a whole, but with the success of the women’s
soccer and rugby teams of late and the “This Girl Can” campaign it isn’t
really a surprise that a woman would play a more masculine sport. The people
who tend to be most surprised are guys who already play, they always seem
confused when I turn up places and know what I’m talking about.
What type of supplementary training do you
do? What benefits have you seen from this training?
When I started training with the Steelers in Teesside, I
attended one strength and conditioning class a week. When I was picked to
represent GB I added in some personal training with a Middleborough based PT. He
was great and in my personal session adapted exercises to benefit my skill
position, offensive line. I saw great gains in my lifts and strengths. The
Steelers then had some administration problems so I went searching for a team
that could provide me with the best coaching to stay within reach of GB – the
East Kilbride Pirates. I travel up there twice a week to train which is a 6
hour round trip. Before our rookie flag (non contact) season I was in my
Durham gym at 5:45am Mon, Wed and Fri for conditioning. So things like the sled
and prowler, tyre flips, boxing and general fitness, but now that we are back
to contact I am back on the weights with my Middleborough based PT.
At what age or stage in your career did you
realise supplementary training was necessary?
As I touched on before, cheerleading is much less
regimented that football, so it wasn’t until I started to play that I realised
I needed to do more. Luckily this was arranged for me by PT with the Steelers.
Once I had made GB I stepped it up again as to remain on the team you need to
be a part of the P3 program. This keeps a record of your vital stats and also
you combine tests. Strength, agility, speed and fitness.
How do you juggle all you do and make time
for supplementary training?
I was always able to attend S&C with my PT as it was
on a Wednesday evening. Once I started coaching at the university and then
transferred clubs I had to stop this. I now take time off on a Tuesday and
Wednesday to get these sessions in. A typical week is - Work Monday, PT Tuesday,
Training Wednesday, Work & Coaching Thursday, Work Friday, Work &
Training Saturday, Coaching or Spectating Sunday. So it’s pretty packed.
Can you summarise your own personal
approach to supplementary training and nutrition?
I try to adapt my supplementary training to compliment
the different football seasons, more cardio for the flag season and more
weights for the contact. In terms of nutrition, being so busy it is very
difficult for me to keep a strict diet. Luckily with business comes a Costco
membership where I can take advantage of chicken in bulk. I recently invested
in an AirFryer which is great. I am able to cook food easily with less than a
spoonful of oil, most of my cooking is done in there now.
What have you learnt by playing the game at
a GB level that you feel you have reapplied when coaching young talent at
university level?
I started coaching just after my first GB game in Sweden
in 2014. I actually learned a lot more about the sport by observing the coaches
at Northumbria University. The techniques were different to those that I had seen at GB.
The coaching helped me to be a more rounded player. So when we went to WEC 2015
I was a much better player and coming back to coach the 2015/2016 season I was
a much more competent player and a much more confident coach. In football
knowledge is power. The more you know and the better you understand the game
and continue to work on the techniques the better player you will be. Brains
can be better than brawn on the gridiron.
What are your future plans?
I’m hoping that GB will qualify and attend the Women’s
World Games in 2017. I am going to work hard to keep my spot on the offensive
line for that tournament.
Find Lindsey on Social Media via –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxe_J0MNxVY –Follow my time in Sweden https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Ltc9ivLokRPT6rWV5CRcQ
- All the WEC2015 games in Spain
This is a smart blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion. You also know how to make people rally behind it, obviously from the responses.
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