Mum's Brilliant Response After Being Offered Armchair Aerobics Instead Of Football - Walking Football Hub

Darlington mum, Janice Applewhite, swapped armchair aerobics offer for walking football

Janice Applewhite, from Darlington, had never kicked a ball before joining the Darlington FC Foundation 18 months ago but now describes her Tuesday night football sessions as a “lifeline.”

The healthcare assistant and mother-of-two said: “I don’t get very much time for myself.

“I hate the gym, hate running, anything like that.

“I saw the football programme advertised and thought, ‘I’ll go down and see if I can do it.’”

Football had always been in the back of her mind, having spent years watching her son play and wanting to try the sport herself while at school.

She said: “It was something I wanted to play at school, but when I was at school, PE teachers didn’t believe in girls playing football.”

Janice Applewhite, from Darlington, had never kicked a ball before joining the Darlington FC Foundation 18 months ago but now describes her Tuesday night football sessions as a "lifeline." Ms Applewhite began with the foundation’s walking football, stayed six months, then progressed to the women’s recreational session. — Pic credit: Janice Applewhite

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Ms Applewhite began with the foundation’s walking football, stayed six months, then progressed to the women’s recreational session.

Before finding the foundation, she tried several other football associations in the town.

She said: “The last one I approached, to see if I could play football at my age, asked me if I’d like to try armchair aerobics.”

On her first night at Darlington FC Foundation, she knew just one person, her friend Suzy, who she brought along.

Everyone else, she met on the pitch.

She said: “The girls are all new. We’ve formed great friendships. We’ve got WhatsApp groups going on. We’ve got the agony aunt corner, which usually sounds like – ‘The kids are doing my head in today, I can’t wait for football on Tuesday.’ On a serious note, we all have amazing lives at home. We all have great families. But it’s just great to come together that one time a week where it’s just for you and not anybody else…”

Janice described her football sessions as “a lifeline” and said she looks forward to playing every Tuesday night.

Source: https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/26702950.darlington-mum-swaps-armchair-aerobics-offer-football/

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