Watch: ‘It Was Tough’ – Haley Bugeja Recalls First Training Day Among Boys At Just Five Years Old
Maltese football star Haley Bugeja recently recalled her first-ever training day at just five years old, and how tough it was to be the only girl among hundreds of boys.
Haley dived into her roots as a female footballer making waves abroad during an episode of The SHE Word’s Young Women’s Edition, where Haley, Claire Azzopardi, and Sana Grillo were invited to discuss the professional world of sports for young women.
“I remember it as clear as day, walking in through the gate and seeing hundreds of boys – it was literally the first session of the year post summer – and seeing hundreds of boys there and literally not one girl there,” Haley recalled.
“I was literally star struck,” she said.
“I think when you’re still five years of age, it’s kinda like, okay, just go for it, what do you have to lose… but then as the weeks went by, it was always a stressful thing – training with a group of 20 boys, coaches are boys, you wouldn’t see one female coach.”
“It is tough, it’s like, you can’t relate in the same manner.”
“And then I literally spent the next six years training with the boys because there weren’t any youth groups for my age.”
“And I remember at ten years old, Birkirkara offered me to train with the senior team. This was the year before I left Birkirkara because they were scared they would lose me, cause you can’t play with the boys forever.”
“I went and I tried, and I mean, some of them are my teammates today, and they’re 30 now but they were 20 back then, so there was this huge age gap between us and I was still a little kid,” she said.
She continued to explain how she went back to playing with the boys after trying it out for a few weeks, as the age and physical difference was too great.
“I had told my mum I prefer playing with the boys than playing with people who are twice the size of me,” she said.
If you want to hear more of Haley’s story on the show, watch the full episode here:
Tag someone who needs to watch this show
READ NEXT: 46th Anniversary From Unsolved Murder Of 15-Year-Old Karin Grech
