Will-to-Win teams up with Inverness Caley Thistle
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Clare Humphreys, owner of Will-to-Win discusses using mindset to hit the back of the net.
“Winners never quit, and quitters never win” is a famous quote we’ve all heard many times.
Through my business Will to Win I’ve been able to work with individuals either in their own businesses, or in teams, to help create success and significantly improve performance. This hasn’t been by working harder but by using the understanding and awareness of mindset.
Doing this led me to the question: “How can I use this understanding to help teams in sport? How can I translate this awareness for women’s football? Can I even do that?”
Well, I love a challenge and like most I was inspired by the Women’s UEFA European Championship in 2022 and more recently the FIFA Women’s World Cup. I find it fascinating that women’s football is finally getting the attention it so rightly deserves!
Reports show that around 1 in 7 women in the UK play on a football team and that 1 in 20 women in the UK have taken up football for the first time in their lives as adults. In Scotland, according to the Scottish FA, there has been a 17 per cent growth in participation since the Women’s World Cup, as it now has 17,241 registered players and 622 registered teams.
This is quite a drastic (and incredible) change given that only 49 years ago in 1974, the women’s football ban was lifted.
With a new appreciation for this growing sport, I’ve decided to team up with the women’s team on my doorstep: Inverness Caledonian Thistle Women’s Football Club (ICTWFC). I see this as a fantastic opportunity to help and support women in my local area and enable their own mindset transformation.
I decided to catch up with Karen Mason, head coach of ICTWFC about the fantastic work that these women commit themselves to.
Karen explained: “We have been part of ICT since February 2019, and the players in the first team range from 16 to 41 years old. We also have a youth pathway which covers teams from the age of 5.
“It’s an incredibly diverse team of teachers, police officers, students, carers, radiographers, supermarket workers to firefighters and these women all play in the SWF Championship”.
When I asked why they all love playing football together, she said: “I think it’s because they all get on so well and share the love of the game. It is like one big extended family! We all want to represent this part of the country with pride and compete at the highest level we can as we are often overlooked, to keep going regardless of the barriers.”
Telling me about what the wins they’ve had to date have been and what they aspire for in the future, she said: “We have had league cup wins, promotions to the top leagues in the past and the last Cup win was back in 2013.
“We want to gain promotion to play in the Premier League over the next couple of years to challenge ourselves at a higher level. We all want to be the best we can be! “
I asked Karen what are the focus areas we want to achieve with the partnership of ICTWFC and Will to Win? Are we ready to develop a winning mindset?
Karen answered: “I have found over the last couple of seasons that when it comes to the bigger challenging games, we are capable of so much more. During the training, we play well, and are focused yet come to the main matches the results do not reflect our skills, abilities and effort, it feels like there is something we are overlooking, or missing.
“I want us to continue to be physically the best that we can be and have the “mindset” that no matter who we play we can “win” and that we will do whatever it takes to achieve this!”
From my perspective, I am super excited to be working alongside these incredible women.
Will to Win and ICTWFC are committed to a series of Winners Mindset Workshops to develop an understanding and awareness of how changing mindset can impact performance and results.
I know that one of the most crucial beliefs of high performers is their belief in themselves and their ability to achieve their goals. They have a mindset that allows them to see challenges as opportunities for growth, rather than as obstacles to overcome.
The objectives of the Winners Mindset Workshops over the coming weeks are to enable that growth mindset and for ICTWFC to realise they too can have the Will to Win! Bring it on!
