Ashleigh Plumptre says she is not thinking about managing a national team for now but has interest in developing young talents.
Plumptre, who holds a UEFA B coaching certificate said this while speaking at the pre-match press conference for the quarter-final game against Zambia. She said a role with the national team will be too much for her presently.
“I got my coaching license, something that I was working towards for a long time. Even when I was back at Leicester, I played for Leicester City, I started my UEFA B,” Plumptre said.
“I have coached youth teams before. I coached the under-12s at Leicester on the women’s side. And I just feel so much fulfillment in young player development. I don’t necessarily know what I’m going to do with it yet.”
As she was speaking, coach of the Super Falcons, Justin Madugu added that she might be a national team and Ashleigh replied warmly.
“No, that would be too much of answer for me. Like I said, I like youth development,” she added.
“And yeah, no, I don’t see myself as a first team, national team coach. Maybe again, that’s my own self, my lack of self-belief, but I know how hard the job is and it’s too much pressure for me.”
She further revealed her reasons for choosing youth football development over national team football coaching.
“And do you know why? Because I think I would say that football is a driver for so much more. And that’s what it’s been in my life anyway. So when I got to coaching the tour, it wasn’t necessarily about football specifically,” she said
“It was being a part of their development because football just became like a confidence booster for them. But also showed areas where they probably felt a little bit insecure.
“And I got to be a part of that where I believe that if you build a trusting relationship with a player and they trust you as a coach, you can get things out of them that they didn’t even know,” she concluded.
Ashleigh Plumptre has risen to be one of the most popular players in the Super Falcons and has drawn praises from fans for her distinct style of play and would be trusted to start against Zambia on Friday.
