Latest / The PCR Sports Show / The PCR Sports Show - Friday 9th January 2026 - Will Cullum and Liv McGettigan from Peterborough Royals American Football Club

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The PCR Sports Show - Friday 9th January 2026 - Will Cullum and Liv McGettigan from Peterborough Royals American Football Club · The PCR Sports Show

0:16
Welcome to PCR Sports. Good evening and welcome to the
0:20
PCR Sports Show. Myself, Dipam and Nilesh this
0:23
week. Hope you've had a great week and
0:25
thank you as ever for joining us for this evening's show.
0:28
We've got a cracker lined up as always.
0:30
We've got guests from the Peterborough Royals American
0:33
football team with us. We've got Coach Will Cullum and
0:36
Liv Mcgettigan, they might apologies running back at the
0:40
club and they'll be speaking to us in a short while about
0:43
everything that's going on at the club looking back at last
0:45
season and the rookie day they've got coming up where you
0:49
could potentially partake as well.
0:51
So exciting news coming up from them.
0:53
But as first as always, let's get this week's news from
0:56
Nilesh. Hi Nilesh, how are you?
0:57
Alright. Thank you.
0:58
Thank you very much, DIPAM. And suddenly the cold weather
1:00
paid the the the welcomed last week.
1:05
Actually a couple of sports that were put off.
1:08
So you've got hockey. The weather ruined the return to
1:11
competitive hockey last weekend. All matches were cancelled apart
1:14
from the under Sixteens who played their league match away
1:17
at Saint Albans. It ended Tutu with goals from
1:20
Emily Oliver and Izzy Hearn. The under 14 girls were awarded
1:24
A walkover and will progress to round four of the Cup on the 1st
1:27
of February. Peterborough Sports and their
1:30
scheduled National League N match against Marine at Pyms
1:34
Park last Saturday was postponed because of a frozen pitch.
1:37
Sports have allowed experienced centre back Ryan Fryant to join
1:41
Southern Premier Division central leaders Spalding United
1:44
on a month's loan. Fryant would join up with his
1:47
former manager at Sports Jimmy Dean Sports next in action at
1:51
High Flying Merthyr on Saturday afternoon in a three PM kick off
1:55
in Wales in athletics and Peterborough and Nene Valley
1:59
Athletic Club ace Lawson Capes will be off to Sweden next month
2:04
having been picked to represent England Under 20s at the Vaio
2:08
Throws International. Throwing will certainly be the
2:11
name of the game as Capes has been selected to represent his
2:14
country in both the discus and the shot in ice hockey and
2:20
Phantoms captain Luke Ferrara broke a club record to seal a
2:24
terrific National League win at reigning Champions League nights
2:27
on Saturday. Ferreira became the club's
2:31
leading all time goal scorer in regular season play when
2:34
completing the scoring in the final stages of A53 win for the
2:38
short benched Phantom's side. Ferrara also netted the
2:42
following night but Phantoms had to settle for a point from A4
2:45
four home draw with Bristol Pitbulls at Planet Ice.
2:50
The visitors took the extra point home after winning a
2:53
penalty shootout following a goalless extra time period.
2:57
And in the National League Cup semi final, The Phantoms and
3:00
Sheffield Steel Dogs is beautifully poised after a
3:03
thrilling 4 four first leg draw at Planet Ice on Thursday night.
3:08
The Steel Dogs will start favourites to win the second leg
3:11
in South Yorkshire next Wednesday which is the 21st, but
3:15
the City side will push them hard again if they can match
3:18
last tonight's levels of work rate and determination.
3:22
So as it's all to play for in Sheffield next Wednesday which
3:25
is a 7:30 PM face off. But before then The Phantoms are
3:29
at Telford Tigers on Saturday in a 7:00 PM face off and at home
3:34
to Basingstoke on Sunday in a 5:30 PM face off.
3:37
In the National League matches, Frostbite and the local running
3:43
scene. Yaxley finished fourth in
3:45
Sunday's Frostbite League fixture at March behind Hunts,
3:49
AC Cambridge and Coleridge and host club March.
3:51
AC Abby Branston and Danny Snipe LED their challenge with
3:55
Branston finishing as fifth, the Lady and Snipe the 7th man home.
3:59
Their efforts helped the club hold on to the third place in
4:02
the league table. The Yaxley men came in thick and
4:06
fast with Luke Cossey who was 11th, Darren Hiller 20th, Mitch
4:10
Thurgood 20, 26th and James Bennett 27th.
4:14
Panvac's John Pike finished 13th with his teammate Ryan Anderson
4:18
31st. James Burton was the first
4:21
Warrington jogger over the line in 28th place.
4:25
Claire Pearcy was the second Yaxley Lady home, finishing as
4:29
23rd lady with pack tracks Sophie Roy Botham one place
4:34
further back and a little bit of bare knuckle boxing news and
4:38
city. Bare knuckle boxer Martin Reffle
4:41
has been handed a massive incentive to win the rematch he
4:44
wanted. The Peterborough fighter faces
4:47
Scott McHugh when bare knuckle boxing returns to London's O2
4:51
Arena on Saturday the 21st of February.
4:55
Reffle took a fight with McHugh at only three days notice in in
4:59
September 22 and was beaten on points and the stakes are high
5:04
for the rematch as the fight is an and eliminate it for the
5:07
World Super Welterweight Championship held by Rolando Dye
5:12
and those your sporting headlines this week.
5:14
Thank you. There's lots going on despite
5:16
the weather of quite the weather preventing some of the events
5:21
going ahead, but there's still lots of action in the city as
5:23
always. Yeah, definitely great to see.
5:25
Certainly from an indoor perspective, the ice hockey and
5:27
The Phantoms going well in recent weeks.
5:31
Yeah, obviously Peterborough Sports will be chomping at the
5:33
bit to get back out in the pitch and they've got a tough game at
5:36
Merthyr tomorrow afternoon in deepest, darkest Wales in a
5:40
three PM kick off. And then from a posh
5:42
perspective, they had a very good win over Bolton Wanderers
5:46
3, one win which maintains there, shall we say, climb up
5:50
the table at the moment. Yes, how many?
5:53
I was going to ask you about Posh.
5:54
Obviously you've been being probably the biggest fan.
5:56
I know that they are very much looking head rather than over
6:02
their shoulder now, aren't they? The change of form under Luke
6:05
Williams has been outstanding, Really.
6:07
Yeah, it's been brilliant, bar the blip against Lincoln on the
6:12
4th of January, yes, and we had those two other defeats at home
6:17
in the league. But yeah, overall it's been very
6:20
good from Luke Williams and credit to him for the way he's
6:22
galvanised the squad again. Posh bottom of the league when
6:26
he came in, now in the top half of League One and fingers
6:31
crossed looking to maintain that with a win over another in form
6:35
side in Plymouth. Our goal tomorrow and.
6:37
Then a great win, like I say, yes, last week against Bolton.
6:40
Bolton obviously hoping for playoff potential themselves.
6:43
So to get a win over them again shows that Posh can compete with
6:47
the teams that are in that in that sort of area of the table.
6:49
Yeah. And that's certainly that, you
6:51
know, that's where, you know, a lot of people are looking now.
6:54
I'm sure, you know, Luke and his backroom staff and the players.
6:58
It's one game at a time and build momentum and see where it
7:01
takes us. But, you know, dare to dream
7:03
really and see where Posh end up this season because being what
7:07
is it, 4 points off the playoffs at the moment and you know,
7:11
tough, tough. January though, what is it?
7:13
Plymouth tomorrow still got to face Stevenage away from home,
7:17
Huddersfield at home. So yeah, some tough fixtures
7:21
still to come and not forgetting Wickham away next weekend.
7:24
And Stevenage just always carries that little bit of an
7:26
edge, doesn't it? And it's not quite a local
7:29
rivalry, but, but because of the the managers that they've had
7:32
between them, it's created a little bit of a sort of a taste
7:36
of the kind of game. Yeah, I mean, crediting
7:38
Stevenage in the way that they're conducting themselves,
7:40
where they're playing their football, it's their style, it
7:42
works for them. And you know, they're performing
7:45
well, probably above expectations at the moment.
7:48
So, you know, Posh, you've got them.
7:49
What is it 20, 7th of January away from home.
7:52
So a couple of games to play before then and if we can go
7:54
there in in good form with the 2 positive results, then you know
7:58
anything can happen from the end of the month.
8:00
Absolutely. And just over halfway through
8:02
the fixtures now, really Bosch will play 25.
8:04
So if they carry on on the trajectory they've had under
8:07
Luke Williams, then there's every chance that you say
8:09
getting to the playoffs. Every chance of the playoffs.
8:12
So leave it at that for now, we. Will for now.
8:17
Brilliant and obviously Nigel's on the on the trail of Peter of
8:21
sports for us this weekend and we'll hopefully hear from him
8:25
during the week. Look out for our posts as well.
8:27
Obviously on social media. Nigel does a great job with the
8:29
videos and the interviewing in and around that club.
8:31
So keep watch on our YouTube channel whenever you can.
8:35
Thank you Dinesh Right, let's go to a short break and we'll be
8:37
back in a few minutes with Will and Liv from the Peterborough
8:40
Royal. Stay tuned.
8:41
It's peace after. You're listening to PCR sports.
8:56
Welcome back to the PCR Sports Show here on PCR with myself,
8:59
Dipam and Nilesh. This week, as I was just saying
9:01
for the break, our social media channels mentioned YouTube,
9:05
which we've recently set up to capture a lot of videos that
9:08
we're taking at the moment, especially in around
9:11
Peterborough sports. So you can keep in touch with
9:13
all the news, interviews and updates from that club.
9:17
Other social media channels on Facebook search for PCR sports
9:21
on X it's your sorry on X it's at sports PCR and your PCR FM on
9:27
Instagram. So yes, do keep in touch
9:29
throughout the week and let us know of any news and updates
9:32
that you might have relating to sport in a city.
9:34
And if you ever want to be a guest on the show, either you're
9:37
an individual or part of a club and you want to tell your story,
9:41
then do reach out and we'll see if we can make that happen.
9:44
So back to tonight's guests will and live from the Peterborough's
9:47
American Football Club. Welcome guys to the show And
9:52
your club is no stranger, but you're both debutant on the show
9:55
today. So thank you very much and and a
9:57
warm welcome to you both. Thank you.
9:58
Pleasure to be here. Will, if I, if I come to you
10:01
first, you're you're a coach at the club, an offensive line
10:05
coach to put it correctly. What does that involve and
10:10
what's your role there? Well, my role is to my role is
10:15
to is to build what I call the foundation of the team's
10:18
offence, which is the offensive line.
10:20
American football is a great sport because it is inclusive of
10:24
everybody. There was a position for
10:26
everybody. And now if you're if you're of
10:29
the larger persuasion, and I say that as a large person myself,
10:32
you are, you are more than welcome.
10:33
My offensive line. We are what basically allows the
10:37
team to get on with what they do.
10:39
It's the big people at the front you see in American football
10:41
games, pushing other people over, making the making the
10:44
space for the ball carriers to to carry the ball and giving the
10:48
giving the quarterback time to throw and to actually allow the
10:53
place to develop. So we're I we're a real key part
10:55
of what of the game and it's a real pleasure to to be to be
11:01
sort of developing those kind of players for, for the Royals.
11:04
So it's it's great. So in in a in a more cruder
11:07
sense, you're kind of wrecking balls or battering Rams.
11:10
Against the the. Defence of the other side.
11:12
Yeah, bulldozers. They, they, they, they move
11:16
other people out of the way and, and they, they, my, my, my
11:20
players are good at it and, and they enjoy that role as well,
11:23
so. How do you kind of set up the
11:24
tactics for something like that? Because I know you know, the way
11:27
you've described it up to now, it just seems like just get
11:30
stuck in and and knock out anything that gets in your way.
11:32
But I'm sure there's obviously a strategy.
11:33
Yeah, there is a strategy to it. I mean it, it really depends on
11:36
what the offence is trying to achieve.
11:37
You, you basically the fundamentally, without giving
11:41
too much away about our play, but there's two ways that things
11:44
go. You're either moving the ball
11:45
down the field by running it in the hands of a running back, in
11:48
which case the offensive line are getting moving, getting out
11:51
in front and moving bodies out of the way to give the running
11:54
back a clear path. Or you're passing the ball,
11:58
which which means the offensive lines first role is to give the
12:02
quarterback the, the, the, the player that passes the ball time
12:06
to, to throw the ball down the field to the, the, the receivers
12:09
who are catching. And that that is much more about
12:14
keeping people away from, from our quarterback from, from Vicky
12:18
at the, at the Royals. And well, it's depending on what
12:24
we need to do. We can do either.
12:26
Most offensive lineman will tell you they enjoy running what
12:29
being part of a running game more, but they, they're adept at
12:33
both. And actually it's, they're a big
12:35
contribution if, if the offensive line's working, the
12:37
rest of the team works well. So I'm not trying to pick my
12:40
part up too much, but. So they've got to.
12:43
So they've got to mix that up with the the robust side of it
12:45
as well as a finesse. Yes, yes, yeah.
12:47
It's the, like I said, it's a team, it's a, it's a game for
12:49
everybody. And if you, if you've not, if
12:52
you've not got the, if you're not the, if you've not got the
12:57
speed or the OR the OR the ability to jump high in the air,
13:00
you're probably pretty good at pushing people around.
13:04
Fantastic. And then I mean the game in
13:06
general, obviously you're focusing on, on, on that
13:08
particular part of, of the play. But in terms of how the, the,
13:12
the, the game is structured, certainly at, at Peter O'royles,
13:17
it's played at a 7A side format, isn't.
13:19
It that's correct. Yeah, Royal Royals play in the
13:22
National Women's Football League sevens competition, which means
13:27
there's seven players on the on the pitch at any one time from
13:29
each side. It is a slightly smaller in
13:35
terms of numbers version of the game than is that is sort of
13:37
played in the NFL, but it's very, very similar in terms of
13:40
the the tactics and the intensity and the the the
13:43
requirement for for sort of enthusiasm that we look for.
13:48
Fantastic. And then your kind of history in
13:50
the game, now in the sport. So you're a coach now.
13:53
Have you were you playing before or how have you got to where you
13:56
are? I have.
13:57
I have spent an awful long time in and around British American
14:01
football. I started out as a player in the
14:04
year 2000, playing at university for a team called the Luff
14:09
Braces, which I played there for two years.
14:15
I left university and started playing for a team in Boston in
14:18
Lincolnshire because I'm I grew up locally, which were called
14:22
the East Midlands Saxons, which early in their history moved to
14:25
Peterborough and became the Peterborough Saxons.
14:27
I played for them for at least the next 3-4 years fairly
14:33
consistently and then life and work took me away and I ended up
14:37
moving away from the area. When I at that sort of time I
14:41
joined the Bury Saints, which were a team that based in
14:44
Suffolk. I played for them for five
14:48
years, qualified as a coach there as well.
14:50
And we end up winning the national or Southern Division
14:53
Two in 2015 and the National Division One in 2016.
14:57
And basically the, the demands of the game caught up with my
14:59
body in about 2017. That was my last season, but it
15:02
was in the National Premier League.
15:03
So I've played, I've, I've played enough football to say
15:08
I've I've, I've got plenty of experience in the game and I got
15:11
to the highest level in the UK for British Senior League.
15:15
Post that I I was part of the club's management team at the
15:20
very Saints up until the pandemic.
15:21
Unfortunately the team didn't survive through the pandemic.
15:25
Post pandemic I got involved with Anglia Ruskin University's
15:28
Siege who at the time were called the Rhinos.
15:31
I coached there for about 3 years.
15:34
Personal circumstances brought me back to Peterborough, which
15:36
is probably somewhere I call home and football being part of
15:42
my blood at this stage. I looked around for
15:44
opportunities to continue with football and it was the Royals
15:48
that were literally just round the corner.
15:51
So I got in touch with the team and said can I help?
15:54
And they said yes please. And I've been very pleased and
15:56
proud to be part of the rules for the last couple of years.
15:58
Fantastic. So yeah, they're fated to be
16:01
there. I guess so.
16:03
And what what position did you play then?
16:04
I was, I, I have spent almost my entire playing career on the
16:07
offensive line. I, I probably played two games
16:11
where I've been on the defensive line, but I've, I've always been
16:13
a lineman. I've and predominantly an
16:15
offensive lineman. So it's, it's what I know, it's
16:18
what I'm, it's, it's what I, it's what I like.
16:21
It's what, it's what I'm probably got the most knowledge
16:23
about. So it's, it's, it's where I, I
16:26
bring my skills to the game, I guess.
16:28
Were you a runner or a bulldozer?
16:30
Very much a bulldozer. I was good at pushing people
16:33
around and and getting getting other people out of getting
16:36
people out of the way so the quicker guys could get past me
16:38
and get on with get on with the the glory of the game.
16:40
But very pleased to do it. I mean, just touching on, on the
16:45
Royals, I say as a club been on the guest on the show many times
16:48
and we kind of followed the history to a degree for the last
16:52
few years. And I think the first time the
16:56
Royals were on guests were I think just coming out of the
16:58
pandemic actually, it was the first time they appeared on the
17:00
show. And as I said, the club managed
17:03
to get through the pandemic, survived it and it seems to be
17:05
growing now in popularity and certainly in the levels of sort
17:09
of successes seeing as well. The club's been has been on the
17:12
scene since 2016. That's when they started to form
17:17
and they got into sort of Baffa competition.
17:19
So British American football competitions in late 262016.
17:24
They got into the contact version of the sport in 2017 and
17:28
have been consistently competing in various sort of forms, both
17:32
in the fibre side version 7 aside.
17:34
They have spent a few seasons playing nine aside as well
17:38
throughout the years, but they've lost seven years now.
17:42
They've been based at Peterborough Lounge Rugby Club
17:45
in Breton and stayed together through COVID.
17:50
Had some success in in in the Eastern Division One in 2021 and
17:55
in 2022. Two seasons in nines and 23 and
17:59
24 structure meant that it was better for us to be back into
18:05
the sevens competition for the 2025 season where we actually
18:09
ended up winning seven out of our eight league games.
18:12
So we went seven and one last season and got to the national
18:14
final. That didn't go our way, but I
18:19
think last season was a success. But it's left the team wanting,
18:23
wanting more of the same. Yeah, They've seen what it
18:27
looked, they felt what it looks like.
18:28
And you know, it's they, they want.
18:31
I think we, we want to be back and, and competing in a in the
18:35
national sevens final next year or this year now.
18:39
But we want to get there and we want to, we want to actually
18:42
represent Peterborough Royals football in the best possible
18:46
light and I think everybody at the club is keen to do so.
18:49
So it's are we looking forward to next season?
18:51
It's going to be fun. It's a remarkable story because
18:53
you know, Peterborough, you know, tiny city, they say,
18:56
compared to many others and, and and, you know, playing it's part
18:59
and competing at the national level, it's absolutely, it's
19:02
amazing. Isn't it?
19:03
No, we, we, we, we, we're fortunate in so far as we're,
19:06
we're quite a well connected city in terms of transport.
19:08
People find it easy to get to us.
19:10
And actually the club has has made a really a really positive
19:15
and welcoming atmosphere. It it brings people in, they get
19:19
involved quickly, they get to learn that it's a great place to
19:22
to play sport, to socialise and to have success.
19:25
And it's a real, it's a real positive atmosphere around the
19:28
team. I think people enjoy that
19:30
people, people come because of that and they stick around and,
19:36
and it's, and it's great to see. So we, we, I, we're doing the
19:40
right thing in terms of, in terms of generating people who
19:43
are interested in American football and, and generating
19:46
success because of that. So I'm, I'm really proud to be
19:48
part of that. Brilliant.
19:50
Good stuff, right? Let's hold it there for a
19:51
moment. We'll take a short break, then
19:53
we'll be back speaking to Live and asking how she joined, why
19:57
she joined and how she's getting on and what it's like playing
20:00
for the Royals. So stay in touch.
20:01
It's PCFM. You're listening to PCR sports.
20:22
Welcome back to the PCR sports show with myself department
20:24
Nilesh this week and just a reminder of how you can listen
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So never miss a moment of any show on our station ever again.
20:56
So. But back to this evening's
20:58
proceedings. We have Liv and Will from the
21:01
Peterborough Royals in the studio with us, who are an
21:03
American football team in the city.
21:06
Will's just been telling us about his career in the game
21:09
been stretches back to the year 2000, having been a player and
21:12
now a coach with the City side. But Liv on the other the end of
21:18
the spectrum, just starting out her career, one of the youngest
21:20
members, if not the youngest member of the club.
21:23
Liv, good evening. How are you?
21:24
I'm good. How are you?
21:25
Yeah, very well. Thank you.
21:26
Thanks for joining us. It's.
21:27
Good to have us. And so what's your story to date
21:31
in terms of the sport and the club?
21:33
Like I say, you are one of the youngest members, as you
21:35
mentioned to me off the air. Yeah, so originally I started
21:40
kind of like out at university two years ago.
21:42
I played netball for years. I've been a netball coach, been
21:45
a netball player, been a team captain and everything.
21:48
I was at uni at the time and I was just kind of not vibing with
21:53
netball the same way that I'd had for years.
21:56
I was captain in the team and I found it quite like a stressful
21:59
environment. So I was next to the American
22:02
football stand at one of our welcome fairs in the January and
22:05
I was like one of the boys was trying to encourage me.
22:07
Oh, try on the helmet, come and play.
22:09
And I was like, oh, can I do musical theatre?
22:11
Like I'm going to get in so much trouble.
22:12
I get in trouble for playing netball because like I shocked
22:15
my spine at this point, like shocked the muscles in the
22:17
spasm. I'd done tendons in my ankle
22:19
playing netball. So my lecture was like,
22:22
netball's enough. It's a non contact sport, so
22:25
trying to get into a full contact sport was a bit like I
22:28
had to kind of do it under the rug.
22:31
I then couldn't like shake the idea out of like trying to like
22:35
play play American football. Suppose.
22:36
So I messaged the offensive line coach at ARU who worked in
22:41
partnership with Will, his name is Dion and I was like what
22:45
would it look like if I played American football and he sat and
22:48
explained it for me. I did kind of join a couple of
22:51
the sessions but due to work commitments I didn't end up
22:53
actually playing any full contact matches.
22:55
However, I then joined them for a flag.
22:57
So we played a flag tournament for Lussell, which is a form of
23:02
Bucks, which is British universities like the Board for
23:05
Sport and they kind of do like a london-based one.
23:07
They were hosting a flag tournament, so I went with the
23:10
team. I was the first female flag team
23:13
captain for ARU and yeah, I just kind of spent the summer playing
23:18
flag with them. And then I had a conversation
23:20
with Dion and the former president of ARU called Logan
23:24
and they were like, why don't you go out to Peterborough and
23:27
why don't you try Royals? And they were like, we have
23:29
friends that play that. There's a girl that plays for us
23:31
at Cambridgeshire Cats. She plays for Royals as well.
23:34
Do you want to go? So I was like, yeah, I suppose I
23:36
can go. So me and a couple of the boys
23:39
went down to watch their match with Birmingham Lions.
23:42
I believe it's over. Birmingham Lions or Manchester
23:44
Titans, It was one of them. And I just kind of spoke to
23:47
Carrie, who's our lovely team manager.
23:49
And I was like, can I, can I join?
23:53
Yeah, yeah, you can join. 2 weeks later.
23:54
I was in, in training and not knowing what the hell I was
23:58
doing, I like took the ball and I ran and I ran forward and the
24:03
coaches went, you're actually quite good.
24:07
You've never played. I was like, I played flag, but
24:09
again, Flag's non contact that you're not running into
24:12
everyone. I was like, I played netball as
24:13
well. And they're like, but you're
24:14
running through everyone. And I went, yeah, that's, that's
24:18
what it, yeah. So they then invited me to play
24:21
their match with against Teesside 2 weeks later.
24:24
So two weeks later I was stood on football field and Teesside
24:28
playing my first ever Nines match for Royals.
24:30
And I've just kind of stuck with Royals since then.
24:33
And yeah. Amazing story, fantastic and
24:36
quite a pivot from from from the sport of netball to to American
24:39
Ford isn't. It yeah, definitely it's it was
24:42
definitely hard to kind of do both.
24:45
I then after that summer with Royals and then obviously went
24:48
back to uni for my 3rd and final year, decided to both play
24:51
American football and netball at the same time.
24:54
Fantastic. I was, it was, I got there and
24:58
like it's, it's easy to kind of like do, but then trying to
25:01
switch your brain off from a non contact to a contact perspective
25:04
is a bit eerie. So I think it was our netball
25:07
match, we were away to Birmingham City University and I
25:10
ended up like just full in, full on crashing into enough like an
25:13
attacker because I've generally forgot what I was doing and just
25:16
went flying into and sent the poor girl to the floor and she
25:20
ended up injured. And it was quite.
25:22
I was like, I didn't mean that. I got confused which one I was
25:25
playing. Yeah, just just ever so
25:26
slightly, just a little bit. And then I ended up having to
25:29
stop netball just because my body just couldn't handle the
25:32
two sports. My course, it was just a lot of
25:35
impact on my body. I mean, netball does produce
25:39
more injuries than what people would imagine, doesn't it?
25:41
Yeah, what the type of sport is. Before I joined American
25:44
Football, I'd never really been to the hospital back home in
25:46
Scotland and I had been to the hospital three times because of
25:50
netball and like to the doctors and everything.
25:53
Again, my spine was a massive one.
25:55
It was just, I jumped up in there to catch a ball and landed
25:58
and my whole entire lower back just kind of went.
26:00
And then my uncle was running and rolled it and it just kind
26:02
of went it's, it's surprising. I know a lot more like players
26:06
that have done, players that have done Acls, players that
26:08
have broken arms, broken foots, fallen into the posts.
26:11
Because the posts are metal. We sometimes have coverage
26:13
around them, but then their stands are metal.
26:15
So you when you fly over them or accidentally can't stop yourself
26:18
from running, it's can get quite dangerous in terms of the
26:20
environment. Whereas in American football you
26:22
obviously you've padded up, you've got the gear, you've got
26:24
the helmet, the protection is there, isn't it?
26:27
For the most part, I I I still have like had quite.
26:32
Some bruises. Yeah, quite.
26:34
Not severe injuries, but definitely impactful injuries
26:36
that have kind of taken me out of the game.
26:38
I mean, couple of weeks, maybe a couple of months ago now, my
26:42
university team, so I still play for Angela Ruskin Siege.
26:45
We were playing the De Montfort Lions and I got the ball, went
26:49
to run through our offensive line, had one of the D line from
26:53
DMU kind of just slide him away, bring his knee up and it just
26:56
missed my thigh had ever so slightly.
26:59
My whole entire leg went dead, dead leg.
27:01
It was my very first play on the field and it was only the first
27:03
quarter and I was out for the rest of the game and I I wasn't
27:05
happy because the gap was there that I was running full pelt and
27:09
I just went down and I couldn't get back up.
27:11
I was like, great. Because you're you're, you're
27:12
running back, Yeah, when you play.
27:13
So you're, you're of the what we described earlier, we were
27:17
saying that you're more of the finesse player rather than the
27:19
bulldozer type player. So, and I guess you're you're
27:22
getting hit by bulldozers. It depends because I'm
27:26
technically so I am a running back, but I'm, I'm one of the
27:28
breeds of running back called a fullback.
27:30
So I'm also a bulldozer when I run.
27:33
So I get the ball and I just run straight and just run through
27:36
anyone that I can. But that is like only in the
27:39
perspective of like the women's game when it flips to the mixed,
27:42
the mixed game. So both the university team and
27:44
then I also play for Cambridgeshire Cats, which is a
27:46
Premiership S team. I am not a full back, I'm a
27:49
running back. I've been picked up, I've been
27:51
thrown to the floor, I've been walked back 5 yards by people
27:54
because of how small I am. Yeah, definitely not a full back
27:58
there. But when it comes to like the
28:00
women's game, yeah, I am a full back.
28:02
Right. So expand on that role then
28:03
what? What is the role of of a full
28:05
back stroke running back? It's just like basically we get,
28:10
we can get the ball or get thrown the ball and we our goal
28:13
is just to kind of run and get as much yardage as we can.
28:16
Specifically for me, I'm what's called a short yardage runner.
28:19
So I will always run the ball when we have like 3 or 4 yards
28:23
to go before we're at like our yardage line to make our next
28:28
like section of downs. Yeah, I'm definitely not a catch
28:32
on running back like you can get running backs.
28:34
It can catch. I'm not the best at it because
28:36
I'm so used to catching a netball, so my hands don't
28:38
actually sit in the right position.
28:39
Most of the time they end up coming through my hands
28:41
completely. And what I mean, what, what,
28:45
what do you enjoy most about playing American football?
28:47
And you know, you, you, you. I say you're relatively new to
28:50
sport, couple of years played netball well beyond that before
28:53
that. What do you enjoy most about
28:55
about the sport? And probably the community I've
28:58
made kind of like a lot of friends across the UK playing
29:01
American football. Like I've got friends like
29:03
obviously back home in Scotland that kind of play friends down
29:07
this way. And it's always like such a nice
29:09
community to kind of come and talk to as well.
29:13
Mainly the women's community. You will always find that even
29:16
if we're like against each other in matches, if we knock someone
29:19
down, we will immediately go and pick them up and be like, are
29:21
you OK? Like we're always checking in
29:23
with each other. Not so much in the mixed adult,
29:25
but I kind of get that because I'm a woman.
29:27
So I do have the opposition sometimes pick me up and be
29:30
like, are you OK? I'm so sorry.
29:31
I'm like, it's fine. If I didn't think I could do it,
29:33
I would not be playing. But it's, yeah, the community is
29:36
just, it's definitely something different.
29:38
And it's a very welcome kind of like environment.
29:41
And it's, yeah, it's just good to be a part of, I suppose.
29:44
Yeah, it's and we, we get that feeling like every time any
29:46
guests from from the Royals are on, they talk about the team
29:49
spirit, the community feeling of it, the the sort of family
29:52
nature of it. And and that's very much the
29:54
strength of the club, isn't it? Yeah, definitely.
29:56
It was one of the things that I loved about Royals when I first
29:59
kind of joined. When I joined Sage, obviously
30:01
it's a bunch of boys. I was the only girl and it's
30:03
very like lads, lads, lads behaviour and kind of that
30:06
attitude. And when I went to Royals, it's
30:08
very much like, Oh, well done that, that was really good.
30:11
Or, oh, we're going to do this. Why don't you come and join
30:13
this? Like I think I had on that very
30:16
first day at Royals, I had a couple of the girls come and ask
30:18
me. They're like, why don't you come
30:19
with us to come to the Sealand's open training?
30:22
And I was like, oh, like, I can't, I need to get my, my
30:25
train back to Cambridge. But like, it's that environment
30:28
of like talent, recognising talent and just being so
30:31
supportive. That's the kind of glue of
30:33
Royals, I suppose. Yeah, which is which is amazing
30:36
and right. We'll take another short break
30:38
there, but we'll be speaking to Will and Liv again, just a bit
30:41
more about, you know, life at the club, what it's like when
30:45
you engage with the club, talk about how you can get involved.
30:47
If you're interested in playing the sport of American football,
30:50
stay tuned, it's PCR fan. You're listening to PCR sports.
31:05
Welcome back to the PCR Sports Show, myself, Dipam and Nilesh
31:08
this week. If you missed any of the show,
31:10
you can listen back after 7:00 on pcrfm.co.keep.uk.
31:14
Just choose the Listen back option and listen back to the
31:17
brilliant show we've had so far with Will and Live from the
31:21
Peterborough Rules American football team.
31:24
We're just speaking to live before the break there about her
31:28
start start of her career in American football and how she
31:31
got involved and how she made the transition from netball into
31:35
American football. So will if I come back to you
31:39
for me, the club offer what's called a rookie day, which is
31:44
actually like an open day for potential new players to to come
31:47
along and get a flavour of the sport, get a chance for you guys
31:50
to have a look at them and and and some of them to experience
31:53
some of the sort of community team spirit that Liv been
31:56
speaking about. So and the next one is is
31:58
tomorrow. Yeah, absolutely.
31:59
It is tomorrow, 9:15 in the morning at Peterborough Lions
32:03
Rugby Football Club in Breton. It is the chance for anybody who
32:07
has any interest in playing for the Peterborough Royals to come
32:11
down to meet the team, to get acquainted with the kit, to have
32:15
a fairly interesting training session with us and to get a bit
32:18
more of information about whether or not if they want to
32:21
come and play American football for us.
32:23
We would be very keen to hear from absolutely everybody who
32:27
might be interested. So if you are over the age of 16
32:31
and want to play women's American football for the
32:33
Premier Royals, come see us tomorrow.
32:35
Pete at Peter Reliance Rugby Club in Breton from 9:15.
32:39
Excellent. What do you need to bring any
32:41
kind of equipment or anything with them The.
32:42
Equipment we like you to bring basically is 3 things.
32:47
Suitable footwear, a gum shield, ideally some enthusiasm.
32:52
If you can bring those three things, we can sort everything
32:54
else out. Brilliant, you need very little
32:55
to get started as I need to get a flavour of what's going to
32:57
happen. So and does the club offer Lyft
33:00
touched on it for referred to as as the flag game.
33:04
So that's the the non contact and the contact version.
33:07
The chance to play both at Royals or.
33:08
Is it At the moment we do not do much in the way of Flag, but if
33:12
there is enough interest in Flag, I'm sure we can we can
33:15
find a way of dealing with that. We offer the contact game.
33:19
Currently we have all the equipment and all the special
33:21
equipment, helmet, shoulder pads that you would need to take part
33:25
in the contact game. As I said, it is 9:15 tomorrow
33:28
at the Lions and if you can bring boots, gum, shield and
33:32
enthusiasm, we can sort everything else.
33:34
Out so the protected gear is provided, so safety is is
33:37
assured as much as possible for the training session and what
33:40
else? What can I expect as part of the
33:42
the training session and maybe that first introduction?
33:45
Initially it will be very much getting to know you sort of
33:48
session in terms of we try and sort you out with the, with the
33:50
appropriate protective gear. We, we like to get our players
33:53
in kit as soon as possible because you're going to, you're
33:56
going to play in the kit, so you may as well get used to it.
34:00
We'll take it through the sort of the things that the club
34:01
normally do. It's club warm up bit of sort of
34:04
the, the sort of the activities we go through fairly regularly.
34:07
And then a bit of an introduction to the game with a
34:10
little bit of a competitive fun towards the end of the session.
34:12
It is, it's generally a really good time.
34:14
I really, really enjoy Royals rookie stays because it's a
34:17
great chance to meet new players and for them to get to know the
34:20
club. And just from the reaction from
34:22
our last couple, there's very, there's very few times people
34:26
don't come away from it having had a having had a fun morning
34:28
with us and really hope that inspires them to come back to us
34:33
and continue football with Pete Royals.
34:36
Fantastic and existing members of squad such as Liv will be
34:38
there to welcome people, show them around.
34:41
Except. There'll be coaches, there'll be
34:43
the the teams, a lot of team staff, coaches, existing players
34:47
come down. It's a really, really great time
34:50
to get to know the club. I think I first met the rules at
34:53
a rookie day a couple of years ago and it was great.
34:56
I've been involved ever since. And should somebody not be able
34:59
to make it tomorrow, appreciate what 12, just 14 hours from now,
35:04
roughly 4 1/2 hours, what is there other opportunities to?
35:08
There are other opportunities. We're always looking to hear
35:10
from people who are enthusiastic about playing American football.
35:14
Tomorrow's our last one of our rookie days for this season, but
35:16
we've got open training next season, next Saturday, same
35:20
time, same place, same sort of opportunities.
35:23
But we're that's when we start to build towards our game.
35:26
But at any point on a Saturday between sort of now and the
35:29
summer, if you are keen on American football, please come
35:32
to see us Saturday mornings at People Alliance Rugby Football
35:35
Club in Breton and we will find a way of getting you involved
35:39
with the team. Fantastic.
35:40
And do they need to register in advance or just literally show
35:43
up? No, the way the national
35:45
governing body organises it, if you are, if you are a rookie and
35:49
you are looking to get involved, the you are covered for your
35:54
first three sessions as an introduction to the game before
35:59
you can, before you have to make any commitment to either the
36:01
club or getting registered as a player.
36:05
Once you've had your first three sessions, if you're still keen
36:07
to it, we, the club can sort of guide you through the process
36:09
of, of sorting all that sort of stuff out.
36:12
It's not a, it's not a particularly onerous process,
36:14
but you get the first three sessions to work out whether or
36:16
not you're you're enthusiastic. But most people by that stage,
36:20
they're sold on the game and it and it's great.
36:23
And we'd be really keen to sort of take you on and take you
36:26
through the process of how to get registered and have a great.
36:28
Season with the Royals and obviously women's team so the
36:32
male population need not apply and.
36:35
I mean. Unless they want to coach,
36:37
obviously. I'm saying and coaches with with
36:39
some experience are always welcome down.
36:40
But we we we love to see we love to see supporters.
36:45
Plenty of people bring bring partners to to games and we
36:49
having a having a great deal of support and it's a good fun club
36:54
to be around. So if you are enthusiastic about
36:56
American football, could you come and see us women obviously
36:59
looking forward to to get onto the pitch, but there's always
37:03
people looking to cat. We always need people to carry
37:04
the water, carry the water and and and and assist with
37:09
everything to do with getting an American football team to play a
37:11
game. But yeah, love to see everybody
37:13
there, unlike many. Clubs in in Peterborough that
37:16
are kind of either the amateur or semi semi professional kind
37:19
of level that it's, it's an army of volunteers that kind of keep
37:23
things turning, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely.
37:25
I mean, we've got a libs already touched on some members of the
37:30
key members of the team. Our, our, our, our great team
37:33
manager Kerry has is instrumental in getting things
37:36
to to to happen on the game days.
37:39
There's several of the coaches, myself, Ian and Ian and Moe
37:44
would be risk if I didn't mention Dan as well, all of whom
37:47
are there quite regularly to support the support the game.
37:52
And there's a whole raft of other people as well.
37:55
We attract, we attract sports photographers, we've got physio
38:00
who comes turns up to us regularly and it's a it's a real
38:04
community and we're really welcoming to anybody who wants
38:07
to to be involved with what we do.
38:09
Fantastic. Sounds good.
38:10
Sounds like good, good fun for anybody at absolutely that wants
38:14
to just just being in around the scene really, whether they're
38:16
playing or not playing. So yeah, fantastic live from
38:19
your perspective, like like I say, you've you've only been
38:22
with the club a couple of years from the other perspective of of
38:26
you engaging with the club from for the way that we were just
38:28
described it. How's how's the feeling been for
38:30
you when you first engaged in in the journey since?
38:33
I think I was definitely kind of terrified my first session.
38:37
I didn't know what I was doing. Like I just kind of rocked up.
38:40
I had, I think a uni uni lent helmet I'd bought, bought
38:44
shoulder pads off of a lady and I was just like, I don't know
38:47
what I'm doing. And I had two people who were
38:50
both running backs at the time and Becca and SJ, they kind of
38:54
came up to me and they're like, oh, like, how are you doing?
38:56
Like I'm, I'm Becca, I'm SJ, like come, come and join us.
38:59
And they just kind of like pulled me into it and just kind
39:02
of got me doing everything. And I've been ever so thankful
39:06
to Becca and SJI do I do say, but I do say SJ is like my
39:10
running back mum. Like she was the one that kind
39:12
of taught me everything, showed me what to do and was definitely
39:15
there for me. And it's great to kind of see
39:17
like SJ is now one of the refs. She's one of the female refs in
39:20
this kind of local area. So it's great.
39:22
Like I got to see her one of their game days a couple of
39:24
months ago. And it's like you, you kind of
39:27
it's like kind of that sense of pride, I suppose.
39:29
But yeah, they definitely that is kind of how most of the team
39:33
are. They will if you don't look like
39:35
you don't know what you're doing or you look terrified, they will
39:37
kind of just pull you in and be like, right, let's do this.
39:41
Come and join us. This is fun.
39:42
Like, what's your name? That kind of like they'll never
39:44
make you kind of feel isolated. They will always kind of welcome
39:47
you with open arms and make sure that you're comfortable in the
39:49
environment. Fantastic.
39:51
And if there's listeners out there, either either players or
39:54
parents of of players who potential players that may or
39:57
may not be interested or sitting on a fence a bit like you,
40:00
perhaps you will. When you've tried on that helmet
40:02
in the in the in the university at the time, what would you,
40:05
what advice would you give to anyone who's kind of sitting on
40:07
the on the edge there? Just go for it.
40:09
I suppose it's it's one of those decisions that you will not know
40:12
how you feel until you try it. I know I was very reluctant at
40:16
first because I was worried I was going to get injured.
40:19
I was worried like this was going to happen or that was
40:21
going to happen, but literally just kind of go for it and be be
40:26
able to kind of just do it. Don't listen to your parents, I
40:29
suppose as well, because my, my mum hates doesn't hate that I
40:33
play, but she she worries about me because she sees some of the
40:37
people I go up against and she sees some of the photos and the
40:39
videos where I've just been sent flying to the floor.
40:41
And she's like, why could you not just like play stuck to
40:45
netball or like not flip to that, but this kind of not
40:49
taking on any other, any other voices saying don't do it
40:52
because you're going to do this, you're going to get hurt, you're
40:53
going to you're going to make yourself a fool.
40:55
Like just go for it, try it, put yourself in that environment
40:59
with those people that already play it and then make your
41:02
opinion rather than the opinion on people outside of the like
41:05
organisations and everything. Brilliant sounds good.
41:08
So if you're teething on the edge, you're not sure, just turn
41:11
up tomorrow or in any on any future.
41:14
Saturday, 9:15 AM at the at the Peterborough Royals in Breton at
41:19
the Peterborough Lions Rugby Football Club.
41:22
Just turn up for an open session or a rookie day and see if
41:24
American football is for you. So we'll live.
41:28
Thank you ever so much for being wonderful guests this evening
41:31
and wishing you all the best for the forthcoming season and the
41:33
and the future at Peterborough Royals.
41:35
Thank you very much. Nilesh, thank you as always.
41:38
Nick Andrews guest next week. Yeah, good to get Nick back on
41:41
the show, England. He's off to represent England
41:45
over 70s in the Ashes against Australia and also take part for
41:50
England over 70s in the Cricket World Cup as well.
41:53
So yeah, great to get him back on before he flies out to
41:57
Australia and New Zealand. Brilliant.
41:59
Thank you very much. Good luck to Posh tomorrow.
42:01
You'll be there, obviously. Yep, supporting this cross for
42:03
another positive result. Absolutely.
42:05
And also good luck to Peter Sports all the way in South
42:08
Wales. So and then Nigel will be there
42:11
and we'll be giving updates through our social media.
42:13
So watch out for those. So other than that, thank you
42:15
for joining us. Have a fantastic weekend.
42:17
And as Neil I said, we'll be back next week with Nick Andrews
42:20
and bye for now.