AUK Radio
It’s tough being a Black Female Football Manager, Dionne Manning, Former Luton Town Ladies?
“I have been playing football for 10 years now and I have never received racial abuse on the pitch that I have heard. Now with all the social media hype it’s giving people a platform to air their views and they don’t seem to be getting punished…”, Dionne Manning, former Luton Town FC, and coach of Warden AFC U7, in Luton, which provides a safe environment to enjoy and develop football skills.
However, Dionne was concerned about the racial abuse received by black players during Euro2021. “I was very worried about playing for the next few weeks after that as I thought what would I do if I was racially abused on the pitch how would I handle it ?”, she said.
Women’s football is growing in England…But, the road to success is still long….Dionne suggested that more support is really needed. She gave an example of some celebrities like Ed Sheeran. The financial aspect plays a crucial role in supporting women’s football such as strong sponsorship, travel expenses, etc as it can be very expensive playing.
“I play for Harlow town ladies currently but live in Luton so it’s costing me a lot each week”, recalled Dionne.
Born in Luton, Dionne’s passion for football started when she was in primary school. But, her Afro-Caribbean parents weren’t supportive. “Football was not something that my parents wanted me to be involved in…Mostly, being a girl and games on Sunday were a big no-no…”.
Despite the lack of support, Dionne’s sport’s ability didn’t disappear.
“I have switched to hockey and cricket instead….My passion for football arose when O started taking my 4-year-old boy to football training….Then I decided to carry on by joining a team…Even though I advanced in age, I was able to support myself and enjoy football now as a hobby…’ It’s been a speedy rise and Dionne found a local team, Dunstable, which signed her off after 10 minutes of the trial.
“That was the first time I’d kicked a football since high school…”, claimed Dionne.
After a successful career there, Dionne joined Tottenham Ladies Even though Spurs Ladies weren’t near the heights that time, it was great to be part of such a big club and proud to be playing each week.
” After a couple of years the club started to do really well and they wanted to up training from twice a week to 3 times and with a young son and the travel it was, unfortunately, something I couldn’t commit to”.
Dionne’s talent and skills were scouted by Luton Town’s connection. ‘I have joined Luton town ladies where I spent the next 4/5 years. Again I achieved great things here like becoming the first-ever woman to represent Luton Town FC in their kit launch. Again I was so proud and excited and for my son to see his mum on the billboards around Luton town stadium etc. I recently left Luton ladies as I’m a person who always wants to push themselves to the highest level I can so as I said I have now gone back to playing national league football and enjoying the tough challenge”.
Dionne’s passion for football led her to focus on her boy’s grassroots football team for 7 years. In 2016, she then launched her own grassroots football club, Warden AFC in Bedfordshire.
She has been the chair of the club since the launch.
Dionne is involved in local communities by coaching and scouting footballer including young people. Her grassroots team has been very successful by winning trophies and major tournaments.
But she reckoned that “it tough being a black female football manager in what has been and male-dominated environment for years”, indicated regrettably Dionne.
“I would advise anyone who is passionate about anything in life, not just football not to give him or let anyone hold you back or tell you you can’t do something. Believe in yourself as you only get one life and you have to make the most of it. Doors will close but other doors will always open if you strive to achieve”, she mentioned.
Interview by @JuniorBadila
AUK Radio
Inspirational headteacher, Ian Douglas, building a long-lasting legacy for Luton children.
Luton Chiltern Academy, which has more than 1,168 students, is part of Chiltern Learning Trust, a variety of multi-academy for local and national organisations. The Academy, opened in 2018 in temporary accommodation, relocated a year later to a £ 20 million purpose-built school building in Luton Gipsy Lane.
Ian Douglas, headteacher of this outstanding academy is committed to excellent standards of teaching and learning and helping raise the attainment of all local students.
1. What has been your path into your current role?
Upon finishing school, I joined the Army. I left after 5 years, undertaking a range of jobs from welding to van driving, then began coaching swimming; I enjoyed teaching and decided to go back to college for 5 years to become a Newly Qualified Teacher. Immediately, I got on well with pupils and staff, managing to work my way up through a range of leadership positions, spending 16 years at Denbigh High School, transforming it from a challenging to an excellent school. Thereafter, I secured the Headship at Chiltern Academy.
2. Why did you choose the field of education?
Having been involved with the teaching and coaching of swimming, I enjoyed working with young people and realised the impact you can have on a young person’s life and how rewarding it is to see young people learn, develop and grow, turning into mature young adults. Whilst it is a challenging field to work in, in my opinion, it is the most rewarding field. I now have many of my old pupils who are teachers, working with me here at Chiltern Academy. That bond is a lifelong bond.
3. What are your challenges managing Chiltern Academy?
By far, the biggest challenge in education is the recruitment of new teachers into teaching positions. There is a national shortage and we have to work very hard to secure the best teachers, as they have the biggest impact on young people.
4. What are your aspirations, and expectations?
My aspirations are for the children; that they leave us as healthy, successful, well-rounded individuals, who can live comfortable lives and contribute to society. My expectations are that children work hard, and be polite and respectful. My expectation of staff is that they commit fully to our pupils, to ensure they get the best education we can offer.
5. Chiltern Academy was opened in 2018, and your first ever Ofsted report this year was good. Did you expect that?
Our first grading was good with some outstanding features; I did expect this as having worked in an outstanding school, it can take a long time to build traditions, routines, and culture of outstanding practice, and to embed it fully within the school. Ofsted gave a good reflection of our school and a grounding to push forward to be fully outstanding, which I expect us to be. Without GCSE results, it is difficult to secure a fully outstanding judgment, and that was made clear to us when the inspecting team came in.
6. Parents and pupils are proud of your school. What do you do to sustain this reputation?
First and foremost, as I alluded to earlier, it is vital we continue to recruit and retain the best staff possible. Whatever school you work in, children lead similar lives; eating the same foods, listening to music, and wearing similar clothes…however, it is the adults who instill the culture, values, and ethos. Moving forwards as a school, whilst our PSHE is outstanding, there are still areas we need to work on with young people and this is one of the things that makes the school special; where they learn their values and zest for life. Reputations are hard to build but easy to lose. Ours are built on a solid footing of the hard work of staff, buy-in from parents, and the enthusiasm of young people. We need to maintain this as we move forwards.
AUK Radio
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Visa workers no longer need £40,000 to bring their families into the UK
