#Football (global term)
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gomes72us-blog · 7 days ago
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uplaay · 1 year ago
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10 Steps to Achieving Soccer Excellence: Your Journey to Becoming a Pro
For many aspiring athletes, the dream of becoming a professional soccer player is both a passion and a lifelong pursuit. While becoming a soccer pro is arduous, it's manageable. With dedication, skill development, and strategic planning, you can transform your love for the beautiful game into a professional career. In this blog, we'll outline the ten essential steps to guide you on your journey to becoming a soccer pro while ensuring it's SEO-optimized for maximum visibility.
1. Master the Fundamentals
The foundation of any great soccer player is a deep understanding of the basics. Spend time perfecting your dribbling, passing, shooting, and ball control skills. A strong foundation is essential for success.
2. Join a Local Team
You are joining a local soccer team, whether a youth club or a school team, which provides invaluable playing experience. Consistent match time in a competitive setting is crucial for your growth as a player.
3. Commit to Physical Fitness
Soccer demands peak physical condition. Incorporate strength training, cardio workouts, and agility drills into your routine to improve your athleticism and stamina.
4. Build Soccer Intelligence
Develop your soccer IQ by studying the game. Watch professional matches, read books, and follow soccer news to enhance your tactical understanding and decision-making abilities.
5. Find a Knowledgeable Coach
Seek guidance from an experienced soccer coach who can refine your skills, provide feedback, and help you reach your potential as a player.
6. Compete in Competitive Leagues
Participate in competitive leagues and tournaments. Exposure to different playing styles and high-pressure situations will help you grow as a player.
7. Attend Soccer Showcases and Combines
Showcases and combines provide opportunities to display your skills in front of scouts, recruiters, and coaches. These events can be crucial for advancing your career.
8. Consider College Soccer
Explore the option of playing college soccer. Many professional players come from collegiate programs; a college education can be a valuable backup plan.
9. Network and Build Relationships
Forge connections with coaches, scouts, and fellow players. Networking can open doors to opportunities you might need help finding independently.
10. Stay Committed and Resilient
The journey to becoming a soccer pro is fraught with challenges and setbacks. Stay committed to your goals, work diligently, and maintain resilience in adversity.
Conclusion
Becoming a professional soccer player is a journey that demands dedication, hard work, and unwavering determination. By following these ten steps, you can increase your chances of reaching the pinnacle of the sport you love. Remember that every great soccer player starts with a dream and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Continue to push yourself and stay motivated, and one day, you may find yourself living your goal as a soccer pro, making your mark in the beautiful game world.
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hadesoftheladies · 1 year ago
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actually, it’s good for radblr to start talking about the wins of feminism. I know there’s still a long way to go, but there’s actually a lot of progress that feminism has made and I mean A LOT in terms of global society. not only has feminism been one of the best and most powerful social movements ever, but it’s done that nonviolently. female separatism, women resisting and choosing solidarity with each other, women demanding rights, HAS WORKED and it is a spit in the face of these women to say “we’re never going to make it out” simply because it’s still bad in many places. if we keep dismissing feminism as futile, men win. and we shouldn’t because it’s not true! we CAN have separatist societies, and non-separatist societies CAN improve because they have before.
some recent wins are:
-This FIFA World Cup has become the most watched women’s World Cup in history, with 1.5 million tickets sold. Many people are taking women’s football more seriously. I have been seeing videos of men and women packed in pubs to cheer on athletes. Kids are no longer referring to only male athletes as footballer heroes! Men are sharing highlights and admiring the skills of these athletes from a genuine love of the game!
-Barbie topped Oppenheimer at the box office. This movie has sparked so much self-awareness and reflection all over the internet and the world. It is not radical, but it is still culturally impactful. Greta Gerwig is now one of the most respected directors in Hollywood rn.
-Period products are now free in Scotland!
-Latin America is incredibly pro-choice, and different kinds of abortion bans have been lifted.
-FGM in Africa has GREATLY reduced and continues to reduce!
-World Athletics ruled in favor of keeping women’s sports female! This is a huge win for female athletes!
There’s so much more, and we should talk about it. Attitudes can change. These conversations are becoming more mainstream. And feminist activism DOES PRODUCE RESULTS, whether that’s separatism, art, demonstrations, etc. Respect that history!
There are women and (and male allies) right now who are working their asses off to kill the prostitution, human trafficking and porn industries, there are feminist movements within major religions happening, there are girls excelling in academia and getting into male dominated spaces, there are women fighting to make the internet safer and better, there are women working to make period products free and available…pay attention to these things and join whichever fight you can! you will not find yourself alone in your efforts!
we do not wait to see if there is any hope in the world. we create a hopeful world. there IS hope for women, so long as we have it
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chingyu1023vick · 1 year ago
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Mod Updates: October 2023
Some mod maintenance in my birthday month. 🤗
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Oct 22, 2023:
UPDATE: Less Obsession V9 
Added from requests: Backfloat, Bubble Tea, Celebrity Obsession, Cowpoke Dance, Cross-Stitch, Dance To Mirror, Football, Guitar, Monkey Bars, Mud Play, Practice Acting, Practice Speech, Read Book To Kids, Recreation Table, Smash Dollhouse, Snow Pile, Watch Laundry, Watch Movies
Overhaul of all packages to enable more autonomy for likes in those activities or high-level skills, and restricted by Sim's motives. Please delete all old packages started with chingyu_Less and download these new packages.
Please give feedback on the new activity autonomy levels since I tuned the autonomy. I may adjust the autonomy levels again later with more testing in the game. 😉
Oct 18, 2023:
UPDATE: Inherited Aspiration Bonus V5
Updated to add inheritance from parents with EP14 Horse Ranch personality traits
Fixed the wrongly duplicated packages in the By Chance zip
UPDATE: Smarter Self-Care V18
Revised all needs for better autonomy
Fixed missing string overrides for infant ages
Added Smarter_WildFoxNeeds_EP11 & Smarter_HorseNeeds_EP14
Oct 16, 2023:
UPDATE: Custom Traits in Club Filter v22
Added more traits: LGBT traits from Lumpinou; Dormant Occult Traits from baniduhaine; Houses Of Witchcraft from LittleRedSonja
UPDATE: Balanced Life {Merged Edition} V17
Minor updates for patch 1.101
Remove mood overrides from the merged edition to work with my new mod. You can still download and use the Global LESS EXTREME Moods Override from SEPARATE MODULES if you want to keep that feature and not use my new mod.
🔆 Changelog in October 2023 HERE
🔹 Links to ALL My Traits, Game Mods, and CCs
🔹List of IDs for creators who want to refer my traits to their own mods 
🔹 List of Chingyu’s CC Traits Name and Descriptions for mod users
🔹 Check Mod Status after a patch & Compatibilities
👁‍🗨 Learn how to install a mod & FAQs
👁‍🗨 Terms of Use
👁‍🗨 Ask Questions/ Suggestions/ Bug Reports on Discord
▶ I need to see a screenshot or LE report to help you figure out what’s wrong!
👁‍🗨 Download on my Patreon
👁‍🗨 Follow me on Twitter
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stardust-falling · 8 months ago
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Because I’ve been curious about it for a long time, when something is described as the size of “X football fields,” do people actually visualize a real size, or does it just mean “really fucking big,” and does that answer change depending on whether someone is USAmerican or not (and whether you went through the school system).
So…
For this purposes of this poll, “USAmerican” means spending at least half of your childhood in the USA regardless of origins, “went through school system” means that you received USAmerican public or private education for at least two full school terms (two grades) AND consider yourself familiar with the system so that it feels like a normal part of your life rather than an unusual period. The “metaphor” option refers to anything other than a visualization of an actual size, where “football field” is interpreted as something more abstract rather than being linked to football in any way.
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gayferrari · 2 months ago
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As another lesbian European who went to school with straight boys who jokingly made out in the hallways, slapped each other’s asses and pretended to give each other blow jobs in English class I want to add that while I absolutely agree that none of the grid really reads queer to me (and especially the whole Leclerc family), they are in fact just another example of freaky male Europeans, there’s also the fact that statistically speaking there’s a shit ton of queer people on this planet so like I wouldn’t be that surprised either if some of the drivers turned out to be not straight considering the whole dynamics of the sport lol
Potential homophobia aside it would be quite funny to see people lose their absolute shit over it too
Oh yeah absolutely I think the power of statistics is on our side!!! (our = the queers. the gays. the alphabet people) I think some of it is cultural but also, really, men's sport as a whole is just SUCH a homosocial environment, if you'd allow me the term. Shipping aside I'm always thinking about this quote and just, like, the sociology of men's sport in general. Even in cultural spaces that are WAY more "no homo" than Monaco-based racing driver circles, men's sports are just... so physical and so male-centred and so primed for highly emotional moments and 'us against the world, you're my only one' kinda vibes.
Again, some of it is the european-ness but I'd be curious to know whether the people who get legit gay vibes from Lando or Charles are familiar with sportballs kinda dynamics and if they get gay vibes from that too. Because yeah a non-insignificant number of straight guys I know have kissed their buddies on the lips at some point, but so have multiple footballers live on global tv
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collapsedsquid · 3 months ago
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In its simplest and most elemental form, check kiting is the simple practice of stealing money or valuable goods by paying for them with a check that you know (or ought to know) will be rejected because there aren’t sufficient funds in the bank account to honor it. In this form it is known to the specialists as “paper hanging,” and it’s often a crime of desperation or one carried out with stolen checkbooks rather than a calculated commercial decision—there are obvious disadvantages to a method of stealing that requires you to give the victim your name and address. It is possible to make paper hanging into both a systematic fraud and a lifestyle, as Frank Abagnale did (and wrote about in his autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, later made into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio). Abagnale got over the main drawback by adopting a nomadic lifestyle and impersonating an airline pilot, something that also allowed him to travel for free, to date flight attendants during the high period of Pan Am recruitment sexism, and to have a plausible excuse for needing to cash checks all the time and not having a permanent local address. But as a commercial fraud carried out by businesspeople, check kiting is a little bit more sophisticated and takes advantage of a peculiarity of the American banking system. [...] The important technical detail here is that because paper checks are particularly common in America, and because the check-clearing cycle is so long, American banks have—unusually in a global context—historically been very generous when it comes to allowing their business customers to make payments out of “uncleared funds,” that is to say checks that have been deposited into their account but that have not yet been endorsed by the bank that they are drawn on. Effectively, when you deposit a check, you get access to a short-term interest-free loan, lasting for the duration of the check-clearing cycle. This raises the possibility of a form of fraud that is the equivalent of NFL football and pumpkin pie—something that Europeans would no doubt enjoy greatly if they tried it, but that is so deeply embedded into the overall American way of doing things that it doesn’t really travel.
What you do (in the simplest form) is that you open accounts in two banks. Call them Bank A (from which you get a checkbook with pictures of trees in it) and Bank B (which gives you a checkbook full of pictures of sports cars). Pretend for the time being that you put a token hundred bucks into each account. But now you write a check for $500,000 from your “trees” checkbook and deposit it in your Bank B account. That check is going to bounce, for certain. Except… it will only bounce when the check gets presented, and in the meantime, thinking that you have $500,000 in the bank, Bank B will not mind if you write a sports-car check and deposit it in Bank A. If Bank A sees the sports-car check, they will not mind honoring the trees check for the time being, while they are waiting for the sports-car check to clear. If they honor that check, then you can write another check to Bank B, and so on…
Of course, this looks like a bit of a closed system—you can make the checks going back and forth look as big as you like, but if you ever take the money out in cash or spend it on something, the checks will actually bounce and turn you into just another paper hanger. But creating the illusion of having two bank accounts with half a million dollars in each can be profitable in itself because as well as allowing customers to make payments out of uncleared funds, American banks used to be quite generous about paying interest on deposits as soon as they were made. In the heyday of check kiting in the early 1980s when interest rates were in the midteens and bank computer systems in their infancy, you could have earned quite a lot out of the simple kiting scheme described above, unless someone happened to notice. And although even a dull bank clerk might spot a kite based on two banks and checks going back and forth every few days, if you bring more banks into the scheme (“chaining”) and intermingle the kite with the ordinary back-and-forth cash flow of a large operating business, it becomes very difficult to detect.
Interest rates are back baby, guess it is time to bring back kiting
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the thing that’s such a shame about Madrid is that if they invested even a fraction of what they pump into the men’s team, it would be massive for the women’s game. Madrid is such a global brand and for them to even slightly advertise the women’s team would generate so much interest
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are we surprised? why do you think it was the real madrid players who were the ones who did not protest with 'las 15'? why has real madrid never opened the bernabéu for its women? where is the support and promotion for them? why is di stefano stadium feel like johan whenever barça plays there?
that cursed club does not support its players nor do they care about women's football.
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meanwhile, here's barça:
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honestly, it's nothing to be worried about in the near term. real madrid is having some financial issues and of course, they want to cut its contribution to the women's team. the rest of the clubs do not share their view and so there's no real threat there. also real madrid president florentino pérez and la liga head javier tebas have a contentious relationship and florentino gets pissy whenever he doesn't get his way, so this particular spat is more of real madrid wanting to pick up their ball and go home, as opposed to an indictment of the league itself.
separate and apart from real madrid, liga f needs to find league sponsors and do a much better job overall at financial sustainability because as we sit here today, there is no way they could survive without the contributions of these club teams. it doesn't have independent financial backers to sustain the league. so the league is not in danger of folding next season or anything like that. but in terms of long term growth and sustainability, they need to find stronger sponsors and financial investment separate from the clubs.
liga f and women's football in spain should be profitable (clubs thought the league would be more profitable than it currently is), but in reality, it's only the lack of marketing and investment from clubs across the board that is holding it back!
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bigairplaneblog · 4 months ago
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Antonov An-225: The Biggest Airplane in the World
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When it comes to airline airplane models, there's one that towers above the rest—quite literally. The Antonov An-225, known affectionately as "Mriya" (which means "Dream" in Ukrainian), holds the title of the biggest airplane in the world. This massive aircraft is not just a large airplane model in the figurative sense; it's the largest in every conceivable dimension.
The Antonov An-225 was originally designed in the 1980s to transport the Buran spaceplane, the Soviet Union's answer to NASA's Space Shuttle. But its capabilities far exceeded its original mission.
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With its maiden flight in December 1988, the An-225 quickly became a symbol of Soviet engineering prowess, and later, an indispensable asset in global heavy-lift cargo transportation.
So, what makes the Antonov An-225 the biggest airplane in the world? Let’s delve into the details.
A Giant Among Giants
The sheer size of the Antonov An-225 is mind-boggling. This large airplane model has a measure of 84 meters (275 feet) in length, with wingspan size of 88.4 meters (290 feet). To put that into perspective, it's longer than an American football field and has a wingspan wider than a Boeing 747. The An-225 stands at 18.1 meters (59.3 feet) tall, nearly as tall as a six-story building.
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This airline airplane model is equipped with six turbofan engines, each capable of producing 51,600 pounds of thrust. These engines, combined with its enormous wings, allow the An-225 to carry a maximum takeoff weight of 640,000 kg (1,410,958 pounds). This includes the cargo it carries, which can be up to 250,000 kg (550,000 pounds). This impressive lifting capability makes it the go-to choice for transporting oversized cargo, such as wind turbine blades, military tanks, and even other aircraft.
The Unique Capabilities of the An-225
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The Antonov An-225's cargo bay is so large that it could fit 50 cars. The interior is 43.32 meters (142 feet) long, 6.4 meters (21 feet) wide, and 4.4 meters (14.5 feet) high, making it spacious enough to accommodate a wide range of oversized items. Unlike many other cargo aircraft, which load through a rear cargo door, the An-225 is loaded through the nose. The aircraft's nose lifts up, allowing direct access to the cavernous interior. This feature is crucial for loading extremely large and heavy objects that cannot be easily maneuvered.
Another notable feature of this large airplane model is its 32-wheel landing gear system. This complex system allows the An-225 to land on runways that would be unsuitable for other aircraft of its size, providing flexibility in the types of airports it can access.
The An-225 also has a range of 15,400 km (9,569 miles) when carrying a smaller load, but this decreases as the payload increases. Despite this, its range and payload capacity make it ideal for long-distance heavy-lift missions, and it remains a vital tool in global logistics.
A Record-Breaking Aircraft
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Throughout its operational life, the Antonov An-225 has set numerous world records. In 2001, it carried the heaviest single cargo item ever transported by air—a 189-ton generator for a power plant. In another instance, it transported a 130-ton piece of machinery from Germany to Kazakhstan, marking the largest payload ever carried by an aircraft.
The An-225 has also been used in humanitarian missions, delivering supplies to disaster-stricken areas around the world. Its ability to transport large quantities of aid quickly and efficiently has made it an invaluable resource in times of crisis.
The Legacy of the Antonov An-225
The Antonov An-225 is not just a marvel of engineering; it's a symbol of what human ingenuity can achieve. Despite being over three decades old, this airline airplane model remains unmatched in terms of size and lifting capacity. Its continued operation is a testament to the foresight of its designers and the enduring need for such a massive aircraft in today’s world.
However, the An-225's future is uncertain. The only existing model has been in and out of service due to the high costs of operation and maintenance. There's also been speculation about building a second An-225, but financial and logistical challenges have stalled those plans.
Despite these uncertainties, the Antonov An-225’s legacy is secure. It continues to capture the imagination of aviation enthusiasts and the general public alike, reminding us of the heights—both literal and figurative—that human technology can reach.
In conclusion, the Antonov An-225 is not just the biggest airplane in the world; it’s a symbol of human achievement. From its origins as a Soviet space transporter to its current role in global cargo transportation, this large airplane model has set records and exceeded expectations. Whether or not it continues to fly for years to come, the An-225 will always be remembered as a giant among giants in the world of aviation.
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zot3-flopped · 1 month ago
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There's a piece on the Daily Mail that gives a very interesting behind-the-scenes of Liam's life (they also talk about a big childhood trauma but "whose full details the Mail has chosen not to publish"). It's behind a paywall but I've discovered that many times the reading mode in Firefox and Safari gets through anyway, so here it is:
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Liam Payne's serious childhood trauma and why having a baby so young with Cheryl couldn't bring the stability that may have saved him: KATIE HIND
It was the autumn of 2011, and I had been summoned to Sony Music’s west London HQ to meet Britain’s hottest new boy band.
A few months earlier, five hopeful teenagers had auditioned for ITV’s X Factor talent show – and the music impresario Simon Cowell had drawn them together to form One Direction.
The fledgling stars had already attracted a global fanbase in the millions: a juggernaut that was drawing comparisons to 1960s Beatlemania, even though they had yet to release a song.
Now that was about to change. The band’s debut single, What Makes You Beautiful, was launching the following week – and I was there to interview the boys behind it.
Although they had seemed like sweet young things when we had briefly met at the Fountain Studios in Wembley, north-west London, during their X Factor live shows the previous year, I had expected these precocious adolescents to now be full of self-importance at their growing fame.
How wrong I was.
I arrived to find five handsome young men politely waiting to greet me, but one of them stood out thanks to his cute curly hair and his charming, talkative manner.
No, not Harry Styles – the only ex-1D member who has gone on to forge a successful, long-term solo career – but Liam Payne. Dressed down in a navy hoodie and jeans, Liam wrapped me in a warm hug and excitedly introduced me to his bandmates – Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik – in his strong Wolverhampton accent.
Looking younger than his 18 years, Liam told me how badly he was missing his beloved mum Karen’s cooking – so much so that he had resorted to eating chicken dippers warmed up in the microwave.
Living as he was out of suitcases in hotels, he asked me for ironing tips as he had yet to learn how to use one – and said he still spent much of his free time playing Nintendo.
He admitted that he had practised putting his hands behind his back and trying to sing like his hero Liam Gallagher, the snarling Oasis frontman. ‘I probably looked a bit stupid though,’ he said.
He also spoke lovingly about West Bromwich Albion, the football team he had supported since he was a young boy – though he regretted that he no longer had time to cheer them on in person.
As for girls, Liam told me he preferred shy and quiet ones, although he revealed he’d fallen in love with X Factor’s 2006 winner Leona Lewis, while he found singer Tulisa Contostavlos ‘really, really hot’.
Overall, he struck me as an innocent abroad – a child, really – who seemed too vulnerable a soul to last long in the cut-throat music world.
As the years passed, I met Liam many times at industry events and in chance encounters – and I never shook that worrying sense that he was, in some ways, a lost little boy.
I could never have known, of course, that just 13 years after our first interview, Liam would perish in the most terrible circumstances – following a long spell of torment, scandal and drink and drug abuse.
His descent into addiction had been playing out, in public and in private, for years – worsened by his fragile emotional state.
Many had tried to help him quit the substances that were destroying his life, but to no avail: following his death in Buenos Aires’s five-star CasaSur hotel on Wednesday evening, what appeared to be cocaine and heroin paraphernalia were found in his wrecked suite, with its smashed TV and half-drunk flutes of champagne.
It was a squalid end for one of the most famous young men in the world, so adored by ‘Directioners’ that he insisted he couldn’t leave his hotel without a large security detail (although it’s worth pointing out that other former bandmates, including the global megastar Styles, often travel without huge entourages).
So where did it all go wrong for him – and how did that smiling boy I met all those years ago, rough around the edges as he was, come to such a terrible end?
There is no doubt that he struggled, even more than his bandmates, with that explosive early fame and notoriety.
In a candid moment at 2014’s Brit Awards, Liam told me how difficult he found it to be unable to blend into a crowd. The band’s relentless schedule had taken its toll on him, as had the long months away from home.
He often wished, one of his friends later told me, that he had gone to university like many of his schoolmates.
Of course, Liam came to enjoy a lifestyle unimaginable to his old contemporaries at St Peter’s Collegiate, his Church of England secondary school in Wolverhampton.
Despite his insatiable appetite for drugs, his large property portfolio, his endless jaunts on private jets, taste for high fashion and luxury hotel stays, his bank balance was still thought to be in the millions when he died.
For all his fears that he had peaked so young, he still had decades ahead of him – and ample time to grow into the contented father to Bear, his son with Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy, his friends and family longed for him to become.
But I can reveal that behind that smiling, cherubic face, Liam had suffered serious trauma in his childhood: a shadow from which he felt he could never escape and whose full details the Mail has chosen not to publish.
One friend told me: ‘Before he even began his showbiz career, he had demons from his formative years. He struggled with that and never quite got over it. He was in a band with four other guys, he could get any girl he wanted and he was earning millions – but he struggled to enjoy any of it.’
I can vouch for that: of all the 1D members, Liam seemed by far the most uncomfortable with his fame and fortune.
I would see him most years at the Brits, where at first he would dash over to say hello, often reminding me that he had enjoyed me asking him ‘fun questions’ at our first interview.
Yet as time went on, his chaotic living began to catch up with him, and his manner became ever more unpredictable.
In February 2013, at a Brit Awards afterparty organised by his music label at the upmarket Arts Club in Mayfair, I saw him drunkenly dancing with his bandmates – by far the most bleary-eyed of them.
That December, I bumped into him in the Kurt Geiger shoe shop in Canary Wharf, east London, where he was buying his then girlfriend Sophia Smith – a former school sweetheart – a pair of boots for Christmas.
Gone was his carefree demeanour of just two years earlier, he now seemed strikingly shy. He told me he had bought a penthouse flat in the Docklands, and at my insistence, he posed for a picture with me before dashing off.
During 2013’s Take Me Home tour, the band performed an average of a concert every two days, completing 124 dates between February and November. That, I’m told, put unbearable pressure on Liam, who would often say that he ‘just wanted to be normal’.
Of course, the fame came with perks – women chief among them. Liam’s best-known romance was with Cheryl, who was ten years his senior, which had begun in 2016 following her split from her French husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini.
They quickly became the most talked-about couple in showbiz –and only six months after they were confirmed to be an item, Cheryl revealed she was expecting their baby.
For Liam, however, the pregnancy was a huge shock: he was, he allegedly told friends, not ready to become a dad.
With 1D having gone on ‘permanent hiatus’ in 2016, he was trying to launch his solo career, and becoming a father – especially to a woman a decade older than him –was not part of his plans.
He told friends that he felt like Cheryl, who was 33 when Bear was born, had used him so she could have a baby.
When Bear, now seven, was born in 2017, Cheryl grew increasingly fed up that she was stuck at home with the baby while Liam was away jet-setting.
‘Liam was flying around the world promoting his music,’ said a friend. ‘He was in the zone Cheryl had been in ten years before with Girls Aloud. It led to some furious rows.
‘He began using private jets so he could get home quicker, but it wasn’t enough. Cheryl wanted a proper family unit and Liam just could not give it to her. Things got really bad and tempestuous. Liam was a young lad in his early 20s and he just wasn’t ready for it all.’
Inevitably, they split up – giving Liam even more time to ‘go off the rails’, as one former associate of the star describes it.
Even when they were co-parenting, Cheryl desperately hoped that Liam and Bear would develop a strong father-son bond, despite Liam’s addiction issues.
‘Cheryl knew what a state he was in,’ says a source. ‘She wished she could make it better.’
And she wasn’t alone in that wish: as Liam turned from being a cheerful teenager into a tormented, angry young man, many of those closest to him tried unsuccessfully to rescue him.
He was dropped by more than one of his managers due to his erratic behaviour and his failure to turn up to work engagements.
In September 2017, Cheryl, Liam and Bear went on a luxury holiday to Majorca: a birthday treat for Liam. But he injured himself while drunk.
As the years went on, he only got worse.
In 2022, a gurning Liam appeared to be high on drugs at a post-Oscars party in Hollywood. In footage that went viral for all the wrong reasons, he replaced his Wolverhampton twang with a bizarre Los Angeles accent.
One friend of Liam’s called me in horror to share their fears that he ‘really wasn’t OK’. Last year, Liam moved to a sprawling mansion near the Buckinghamshire town of Chalfont St Giles to be further away from the temptations of London and closer to Bear, who lived nearby with Cheryl.
However, neighbours tell me that he brought his problems with him. They would often spot him coming home in the early hours in chauffeur-driven cars, often with women in tow.
While I’m told he tried to see Bear regularly, his unpredictable lifestyle frequently made this impossible. Instead, Cheryl was largely left to bring up the little boy alone with the help of her mother Joan.
Liam’s new home was also close to a woman who some describe as his fairy godmother – the Olympic heptathlon gold medallist Denise Lewis.
Her husband Steve Finan worked with Liam for several years and the couple were at his side through some of his most difficult times – including his fall-out with Cheryl.
He would often stay at their home as they battled to keep him sober.
‘Liam adored Denise,’ says a source. ‘She mothered him and really tried to support him.’
Yet in recent months, his life was clearly spiralling out of control. His on-off girlfriend, Maya Henry, 23, had recently hired lawyers to send a ‘cease and desist’ letter to the star, accusing him of repeatedly contacting her and her loved ones.
Liam’s friends insisted he was angry and upset at her, adding that her behaviour was due to her wanting to publicise her new book.
And only last week, I’m told Liam had a huge row with his manager over his forthcoming album, whose release – to Liam’s fury – had been delayed because it was deemed ‘too poppy’.
A source said: ‘There was a blazing row and the album was put back again. The single from it had flopped and there were concerns. Liam desperately wanted that album to come out: despite everything, he thought of himself as a musician.’
To make matters even worse, just a few days ago Liam’s record label dropped him.
Another source said: ‘People begged him to get help and suggested that he went to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings, but he wouldn’t take them up on it.’
His most recent girlfriend was Texan model Katie Cassidy, whom he thought might have been The One. She too had tried to help him, but left Argentina to return to the US two days before he died.
‘Lots of people cared for Liam,’ said a source. ‘He had so much love around him.’
Yet all the love in the world was not enough to rescue this desperately unhappy young man, who for all his fame and fortune could never escape the demons that haunted him from his lost, tormented youth.
www dailymail co uk/tvshowbiz/article-13972405/Liam-Paynes-childhood-trauma-having-baby-young-Cheryl-bring-stability-saved-KATIE-HIND html
Thank you for this. Plenty of interesting insights here.
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thirteenemeraldcats · 10 months ago
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in one of your tags you mentioned-
'one of the things that gets chatted about A LOT in teaching is meeting students at their point of need- which ted does NOT do with jamie'
I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this! Both in terms of what that concept entails, and also what you think Jamie's point of need was at the time versus what Ted saw the situation needing
(You have excellent tags btw, don't know if anyone's mentioned that)
I HAVE MANY THOUGHTS ON THIS THAT I LOVE THAT YOU'D LOVE TO HEAR!
(I have more thoughts than I anticipated, this got errr, long. Whoops)
(potentially necessary/relevant background here is I am a high school teacher 👋)
Okie dokie, so, one of the principles of best practice in teaching is the idea I tag-rambled above; meet both the individual students and collective class at their point of need. Essentially this means practising differentiation in teaching and adjusting how content/ideas are communicated to students based on who they are as learners and people. Particularly if a student is performing outside the 'average' (either exceeding or still developing), this means adjusting to their needs by (among other things) curating differentiated resources and adapting delivery style. Differentiation is especially important in an all-abilities classroom, unfortunately public education is perpetually underfunded and overcrowded so everyone's just out here doing their best (the decent people of the world at least). BUT! WHILE I'M ON IT! SPEAKING OF THE THINGS I'VE TAG RAMBLED, the education system's (global) inability to adequately differentiate for students of different-abilities, particularly students with ADHD, ASD and Dyslexia, is perhaps the greatest failing of the whole dang thing and if anyone who ever stumbles across this is neuro-divergent and feels like they were a bad student or couldn't 'keep up' in mainstream education- THAT WAS NOT YOUR FAULT. You don't have to break yourself to 'fit', school is MEANT to bend for you. (Particularly when you're young, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG)
ANYWAY, the fictional football of it all!
We don't see a lot of Ted actually coaching in this show (stick with me). The scenes in which he 'coaches' are typically him and various other coaching staff standing on the sidelines while the team skirmishes or occasionally runs drills, so me saying Ted doesn't differentiate is more based around his patented Ted-talks. NOW, Ted PROBABLY knows the team fairly well as individuals, particularly in season 2 and 3, purely by having spent quite a lot of time with them, despite this the only times we really see him 'adjust' his style with the team are ironically season 1 (examples include conferencing Jamie and Roy in 1x04 For The Children, and allowing/facilitating Nate's speech in 1x07 Make Rebecca Great Again). The moment that always sticks out to me as most significant is when he goes and seeks out Keeley's advice on how to get through to Jamie in 1x02 Biscuits.
Side note: I will be forever obsessed with Keeley jumping straight from 'blowjobs' to one of the four operant conditioning techniques (positive reinforcement) when asked about this. That woman is a very fascinating puzzle of a person.
Ted recognises that his typical perpetual-optimism-style isn't cracking the Jamie-Tartt-nut and seeks out a different opinion. This kind of collaboration and whole-system approach is key in teaching too, either by tapping the knowledge-well of a student's broader school context or the difficult-to-crack student's parents.
SO, having gotten the Jamie-Tartt-cheat-code from Keeley he DOES meet Jamie at his point of need, speaks clearly to him and communicates what he needs from him. AND IT WORKS! Temporarily! During the conversation between the two in Ted's office we see Jamie engage, he even practises self-reflection! Granted it's about his left foot cross, but still! The nut is cracked.
Jamie even maintains the perspective Ted has taught him for about two seconds while talking to Trent, until Jamie's other (definitely not positively-reinforced) behaviours rear up and he reverts to what James others have taught him.
On the other hand.
Multiple times throughout the show we see Jamie be visibly or verbally confused by Ted's communication style. Ted often talks in meandering metaphors that Jamie doesn't seem to be able to follow. We verbally hear him state 'Why doesn't he just say that then, do you know what I mean?' in 2x07 Headspace after Beard has to translate Ted's 'peas and carrots/beefchunks' analogy to 'starters and reserves'. Then there's the infamous 'What the fuck are Denver Broncos?' from 3x09 La Locker Room Aux Folles. The only notable time we really see Jamie 'get' one of these metaphors is the sewer-system-tunnels from 3x01 Smells Like Mean Spirit.
(His understanding of that specific metaphor, along with his use of the magnets to demonstrate total football in 3x07 The Strings That Bind, and a Watsonian-perspective of his near perfect mimicry of movements he saw two years ago when executing the decoy play in 3x12 So Long, Farewell, are actually all examples I use to head-canon Jamie as a primarily visual/physical based learner. For whatever that's worth!)
NOW! Ted's willingness to seek and apply alternate techniques in season 1 when he should know the team as both individuals and a collective the least, coupled with his inability or unwillingness to practise differentiation in later seasons when he DOES KNOW THEM is why I don't think Ted is meeting the team, specifically Jamie at their/his point of need. Any person's ability to differentiate behaviour to meet the needs/requirements/comforts of the individual or group they're talking to is increased the more they know them. (We all do this in life, consciously or subconsciously we typically try and 'match the vibe' of whoever we're communicating with [doubly so for people who're engaging in masking.])
Ted should and does learn more about Jamie as a person and his background as the show progresses. He listens to Jamie vocalise both his internal justifications for his actions and his reflections of those justifications/actions in 1x06 Two Aces, he sees him being explicitly physically abused in 1x10 The Hope That Kills You, he listens to him describe a spiralling mindset in 2x02 Lavender, he sees him being explicitly verbally abused in 2x08 Man City.
Of course, one of the fascinating things about Jamie is how much he learns and grows over the course of the show, and there are instances in which I don't think Ted is recognising that (primarily his dismissal of Jamie in 3x03 4-5-1 and not utilising Jamie's knowledge of total football as a resource from the beginning in 3x07 The Strings That Bind).
Ted understands and has previously applied Jamie responding well to positive reinforcement, yet at multiple times in the series doesn't respond in a way that reflects his perspective being informed by that knowledge. Essentially not practising the appropriate level of care/caution when interacting with/around Jamie.
There's not intervening on Jamie's behalf in 2x03 Do the Right-est Thing or 2x06 The Signal when the team and Roy are targeting or ignoring him respectively. The assumed absence of any follow up to the events of 2x08 Man City, the Zava of it all in season 3, and of course the eternal 'forgiveness' kicker from 3x11 Mom City.
POINT BEING. And to actually answer your inquiry lol, I think Jamie is someone who needs clear communication, ideally bracketed in positive reinforcement based operant conditioning as a learning technique (reward behaviour you want reinforced by offering something desirable [praise in Jamie's case]) and visual/physical aid/references for concepts; as a LEARNER.
AS A PERSON, there's more. Ted can readily infer from all he's heard and seen that Jamie's a victim of child abuse. The long term damage to the adult psyche that abuse during formative years has is astronomical, it literally changes the foundational structures of a person's brain. And yet, again, we never see Ted even acknowledge this. Jamie in 3x11 Mom City, incidentally compares his father to Freddy Krueger, Ted elaborates on the comparison, then Jamie reiterates that Freddy Krueger's 'fucking terrifying'. Ted doesn't reassure Jamie (the requirement of his point of need), he gives him a Ted-talk (and in doing so doesn't differentiate his perspective/communication technique).
As far as what Ted thought the situation needed... search me I've got no idea. I do think Ted projects onto Jamie a hell of a lot. That he gets Jamie's personhood and life experiences all tangled up in the emotions he has about his father's death and his consequent perceived abandonment, his insecurities about his own ability to parent Henry and even in his own inability to clearly communicate with his mother. I do think Ted relies on his own forced optimism to 'get by'. Like how a great white shark dies if it stops swimming, if Ted stops being 'Ted', if he stops swimming, his past and his fears and his feelings will catch up to him and swallow him whole. (For what it's worth, I do think Ted is more unwell than even the show explicitly tells us, much like Jamie experiencing ongoing trauma due to childhood abuse, the effects both short-term and long-term as well as potential causalities of having a parent die by suicide are... grim.)
(Essentially the entire fandom has talked about basically all of this at one point or another, I'm just using slightly different language.)
NOW! These characters are fictional (obviously) and I am judging them based on real-people conventions and the best-principles of my own profession, as well as my background in theoretical psychology (which I think I forgot to mention and is also probably [??] relevant). My Doylist-perspective of Ted and his coaching/communication style is ...kinder, but if I get too sucked into the narrative it results in either brief tag-rambles or... whatever this thing I've just typed is. I think it's been too long since I've written academically, my thoughts have gone circular 🫠
ANYWAY! I hope this made something-approaching sense! Thank you again for asking to hear my thoughts! Always happy to word vomit!
ALSO, thank you for saying my tags are excellent (you are the first and currently only to say so!) - The tags are where I send my thoughts to die (in a 'I must banish them to move on' kind of way rather than a 'I'm strangling them' kind of way) so you saying they're excellent is even MORE flattering than you realise! Makes my brain want to purr 💚🤣
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wearingaberetinparis · 1 year ago
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And You Heard About Me
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A Jily Celebrity AU inspired by the romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Lily Evans is a Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and global superstar, who recently broke up from her latest and long-term actor boyfriend Amos Diggory. James Potter is a professional football player who plays as a forward for Manchester United and has never been quiet about his celebrity crush: Lily Evans. When Lily Evans thus plays at Wembley Stadium - a place he is more than familiar with due to his being part of the England team - he just has to go and see her perform, embracing his inner, besotted fan boy, while the woman on stage is completely oblivious to his presence. Or is she?
Read And You Heard About Me HERE!
This is probably poorly edited and it did turn out differently from how I had expected, but when I saw the final word count for this story, I knew I had to stop: 12013 words. That's so close to Taylor's birthday (12/13) that I felt as if all the stars had aligned. (I hope you guys enjoy this. I'm always nervous about my work and feel like I might disappoint you. I hope this is not the case now!)
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uplaay · 1 year ago
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The Global Passion: Exploring the Phenomenon of Soccer's Popularity
Soccer, known as football in most parts of the world, isn't just a sport; it's a global obsession. With billions of fans and centuries of history, soccer holds a special place in people's hearts worldwide. In this blog, we'll delve into the fascinating factors that make soccer the most popular sport on the planet while ensuring it's SEO-optimized for maximum reach.
1. Simplicity and Accessibility
Soccer's beauty lies in its simplicity. It would help if you had a ball and a few markers for goals and were ready to play. This accessibility means that it can be played in any corner of the globe, from Rio de Janeiro's streets to rural Africa's fields. The universal appeal of a sport requiring so little play is undeniable.
2. Low-Cost Equipment
Unlike many other sports that demand expensive gear, soccer requires minimal equipment. This makes it an affordable option for players of all backgrounds, eliminating financial barriers and ensuring that anyone with a passion for the game can participate.
3. The World Cup: A Global Celebration
The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of soccer. Held every four years, it brings together nations from every corner of the planet. The tournament's pageantry, drama, and the sheer scale of the event capture the imaginations of millions. The World Cup isn't just a sporting event; it's a celebration of culture, unity, and national pride.
4. The Universality of the Sport
Soccer is the lingua franca of sports. Regardless of language or culture, anyone can enjoy a soccer match. The rules' simplicity and the game's universal language make it a sport that can transcend borders and bring people together.
5. Legendary Players
Soccer has produced some of the greatest athletes and icons in the world. Names like Pelé, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo are revered for their skill and ability to inspire generations of fans.
6. Club Football Rivalries
Club football has its brand of passion and intensity. Rivalries like Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Manchester United vs. Liverpool, and Boca Juniors vs. River Plate evoke emotions beyond ninety minutes of play. These club rivalries keep fans engaged year-round.
7. A Sport of the People
Soccer has a rich history of being a sport for the masses. It often represents the hopes and dreams of communities and nations. From local clubs to national teams, soccer resonates with people from all walks of life.
8. Social Media and Global Connectivity
In the digital age, social media has amplified soccer's popularity. Fans worldwide can connect, share highlights, and engage in real-time discussions about the sport, making it a 24/7 global conversation.
Conclusion
Soccer's popularity isn't just a result of its thrilling gameplay; it's a culmination of its accessibility, universal appeal, and the emotions it stirs in fans. The sport transcends borders, languages, and cultures, uniting people in a way few other activities can. As the world continues to change, one thing remains constant: the universal love for the beautiful game of soccer.
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tcifob · 25 days ago
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Tobin Heath loves women’s cycling and she has some ideas
Pro footballer Tobin Heath sat down with Matilda Price for the Wheel Talk Podcast to discuss her love of cycling and the sport within the wider landscape of women's athletics.
Football and cycling sit at vastly different ends of the women’s sports spectrum. Football is the biggest sport in the world, and the women’s game has become emblematic of the women’s sport movement, boasting some of the biggest competitions and stars in the world. Female footballers are household names, and the sport is estimated to draw in half a billion Euros of revenue per year. 
Cycling, on the other hand, is niche to start with, outside of a handful of Western European nations, so the women’s side of the sport is only going to be smaller. The sport is undeniably on the up, and in its best-ever shape, but it’s nowhere near the global boom of women’s football.
In many ways, women’s football and the strides it’s taken in recent years should be something women’s cycling looks up to, and plenty of stakeholders in the sport are doing that. But for one high-profile star, the admiration goes the other way.
At the start of the Tour de France Femmes in Rotterdam, footballer Tobin Heath was a surprising sight, and not always a familiar one to the very cycling-focused community around the Tour. For anyone unaware, Tobin Heath is widely considered one of the best women’s footballers in the world, and she’s a veteran of the sport. With the US national team, she’s won Olympic golds and World Cup titles, she’s won two NWSL Championships with the Portland Thorns, and she’s enjoyed stints at Manchester United, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain. Hopefully, that conveys to even the uninitiated the stature that we’re talking about with Tobin Heath. 
Fresh off of a trip to Paris supporting her USWNT teammates at the Olympics, Heath switched to full-on fan mode at the Tour. The two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion rode with Canyon-SRAM, sat down with Demi Vollering, and immersed herself in the race as a special guest of Strava. 
“I was amazed. When I went there, I was absolutely amazed at the experience,” Heath told Escape Collective. This is an athlete who has won gold at two Olympic Games and two World Cups, and played in or been at many of the biggest events in women’s sport in recent years – but she didn’t know quite what to expect at the women’s Tour de France.
“I was amazed at the access that I had to the athletes. I didn’t know what to expect, but then I got to do all these insane things that, when I equate it to my own sport, I’m like ‘that would just never happen’.”
Cycling may be a world away from what Heath is used to, but after starting her own riding journey and then heading to the Tour this summer, it’s safe to say she is hooked – and she must just be the star superfan that women’s cycling needs.
Where it started for Heath
So, how does one of the best footballers in the world end up in cycling? They’re not two sports that traditionally cross over much, and particularly with Heath being from the US, the general interest in cycling is even smaller. 
The 36-year-old’s story starts in a familiar way: she turned to cycling after an injury. Heath is not retired, but hasn’t played football competitively since 2022, owing to a recurring knee injury.
“It kind of just happened because I’ve had a long-term injury from football – from my many years of playing football, it’s kind of par for the course of being an athlete,” she explained. “But I was doing some extensive rehab, and I couldn’t run, so I was doing a lot of cardio-based cycling in the clinic, and it was just miserable. Biking, no windows, on this Wattbike, it was so miserable.
“But I had a really good friend, James Hotson, who’s a triathlete, and I was always curious about cycling. I’ve always loved cycling as getting around, I’ve always loved being on a bike, just that sense of freedom and there’s kind of a childlike nature about it. And I was always asking him questions about it, about the cycling community, the training, like I’m obsessed with training regimens and stuff like that. So I guess the universe conspires in a lot of ways.”
Heath’s injury, her curiosity and the cycling scene in LA, where she’s based, all came together in the perfect way. One second-hand bike later – “I didn’t want to make the huge investment into cycling, it’s a really big barrier to entry” – and Heath was away.
“Next thing you know, I’m fully kitted, I have the best bike ever, and [James] is like ‘this is my friend Iz King’ who is a professional gravel rider in the area, and she gave me everything. This was when there was no looking back for me, because as soon as you put on the kit and you have all the bells and whistles, this is when I became a full-blown poser.”
Heath may have thought of herself as a poser at first – in fact, she still calls herself that when talking about being at the Tour – but her passion and enjoyment for the sport was very real.
“There was an unlock of being able to exercise in a way that I couldn’t before, in terms of getting heart rate zones that were equivalent to playing a full 90-minute match. I was like ‘oh my gosh, finally I can push myself’ in ways that my injury had limited me in a running and football perspective.
“So there was that, but the biggest unlock was getting outside and in nature and feeling that sense of freedom and discovery,” she added, recalling how football allows you to be outside and in the fresh air in a way that recovery perhaps doesn’t.
“I remember the first time I came back from a really big ride, and my partner was like ‘you’re like a changed human’. I feel like that was pretty cool, after a long time struggling with an injury and having so much frustration from a physical standpoint, to get this feeling of almost release and relief, and at the same time joy.”
As you might expect from a pro athlete, Heath soon started mixing in some performance and data aspects into her riding. Football, she pointed out, is also incredibly data-driven these days, so it was a natural carry-over, and an empowering thing to be able to see and use her own data.
“I think what was really cool is the community aspect, but also with Strava and the many hook-ups into that platform, it gives you this access to data that I feel was limited when I was a professional athlete. We kind of just were given training programmes, we worked, and then the data was passed off to all the scientists and the performance staff.
“It’s really cool and powerful to have your own data and to see it and then to be able to compare it to others. I think there’s a competitiveness with that, but I also think it’s just a really fun way to track yourself and your own progress. So I’m really enjoying that aspect of it, because when you go out and push yourself, you do see it – I’m at a point in the sport where I’m seeing significant gains. When you become elite elite, you’re talking about the tiniest percentages of gains that make you better than the person next to you, but I’m at this level where I’m seeing gains upon gains. And I’m loving it because I’ve lived in such a thin air for so long in terms of the tiny little nuances of performance, so it’s really fun to be in a place where you’re like, wow, I got significantly better today.”
Cycling in the women’s sport landscape
Through her involvement with cycling, Heath began to work with Strava, and it was via the brand that she ended up at the Tour de France Femmes.
As cycling journalists, we don’t often get to interview athletes outside of our sport, so given the time with Heath, it was hard not to ask about how she perceived the sport, particularly in comparison to her own background and the women’s sport forerunner that is football.
Most of what Heath experienced on the ground at the Tour was hugely positive, but there were a few things that surprised her about the profile of the sport.
“I was so disappointed in just the lack of information,” she said. “I remember I was going to interview Demi Vollering, and I was trying to find as much information about her as possible. This is one of the best cyclists in the world, if not the best, and I wasn’t even able to find a story of how she got into cycling, you know, one of the most basic things. I went to her Wikipedia page and there wasn’t even a personal blog on her. I was like ‘this is messed up’ because when you go and speak to her, and you learn about her craft, then you watch how good she is, you’re just like ‘oh my gosh, this is a gold mine’.”
After an immersive few days in the Netherlands, Heath also experienced the crushing reality  of the limitations of women’s cycling coverage – an unfortunate rite of passage for all new fans. 
“I remember it was the final day of the Tour, which was one of the longest days, and I woke up early to watch it, and they didn’t start showing it until halfway through the race. And I was like, can you imagine a World Cup final, we’re playing in the World Cup final, and they turn it on at half time? I was just like ‘this is so not cool’, I thought I had gotten the time wrong or something, because I was like ‘I know they’re racing right now’.”
Coverage is a huge issue, but one thing Heath’s presence at the Tour highlighted was just how little cross-pollination with other sports cycling has. In the US, ‘women’s sport’ is practically an entity of its own, with particularly the NWSL and NWBA existing on a similar plane with similar audiences and fans. TOGETHXR, another brand who were working with Strava at the Tour and created the famous ‘Everyone Watches Women’s Sports’ t-shirts was founded by four athletes from four different sports – Alex Morgan, Chloe Kim, Simone Manuel and Sue Bird. All this means that when one sport succeeds, the others rise with the tide.
In Europe and in cycling, however, that intermixing is not quite there, and that’s something Heath picked up on too.
“When I was interviewing a lot of the riders, I thought it would be a great icebreaker question – ‘what football team do you support?’ – and I thought being in Europe and the majority of the racers being European, I thought it was going to be the best icebreaker there is. And… nothing. I swear, there was no crossover from cycling to football.
“I told Demi, I was like ‘oh my gosh, you’re like cycling’s version of Viv Miedema’ [decorated Dutch footballer, currently at Manchester City] and I was like ‘oh are you good friends with her?’ because I thought, small nation, sporting nation, all this stuff, there’s only a couple of elite women athletes there, this is a no brainer, these are best friends waiting to happen. And she was just kind of like ‘yeah yeah, no no’. Those are the missed opportunities, right?”
Coming from the NWSL – arguably the most successful women’s sports league in the world – Heath knows a thing or two about where those opportunities for growth lie, and how to harness them. One foundation of the NWSL in particular is independence – most of the teams in the top-flight are women’s-only teams, not associated with men’s teams. 
“That’s where I’m really passionate is about independent ownership around women’s sports, because I believe that the women’s sports landscape looks very different to the men’s sports landscape, and you’re diminishing all the value that’s found in women’s sports if you try to copy and paste what men’s and women’s sports are like,” she said. 
It’s a debate we regularly have about the women’s calendar and teams in cycling, and we’re not closer to an answer as the sport seems to be at a crossroads between forging its own path, and following the men’s sport’s model. For Heath, it’s about not placing any more constraints on women’s sports. 
“I believe that the things that are being built by and for and looking at women’s sports as a completely new landscape are going to be the most powerful, the most successful ways to build, [rather] than to just try to be like ‘let’s make it exactly like men’s sports’. As long as that’s going to be the case, if that’s how people are looking at women’s sports, it’s always going to remain smaller than men’s sports. Yes, it will continue to grow, but it will always be smaller.”
Bringing cycling to a new audience
Like all women’s sports, what women’s cycling needs to grow is more attention and more investment. As someone who came to cycling via the women’s Tour de France, rather than the men’s sport, Heath also knows that, alongside the arguments for independence, there are arguments for using the well-known touchpoints in the sport as springboards. 
“It actually reminds me of the men’s and women’s World Cups,” she said. “The Women’s World Cup, it’s kind of that similar feel, where it has this global brand to it, it has this global reach, there’s a lot of history. So even for folks that don’t know the history of the Tour, and they don’t know that it just started for the women, so if they’re just coming to the sport they’ll just assume it has the same history as the men’s Tour. So I think that’s a lot to leverage in that moment. And it is a global event, it’s something that brings folks together, and I think the global nature of the sport is what makes it so special,” she said.
As someone who’s been playing at a senior level since 2004, Heath has seen both league football and the international tournaments grow almost exponentially into global brands and events, and when it comes to investment in women’s sports, she knows one thing to be true: it’s going to be worth it. 
“I think [growth] happening. I think it’s all about investment. But with so much of women’s sports, it always feels like we kind of have to show the numbers before we get the investment, and that’s not really how investment works. When people argue about it, they’re saying ‘oh the revenue’s not there’, but you invest to get revenue, it’s a simple business model. But in women’s sports, we haven’t been able to get to that point. I think we’re on the basement level of women’s sports. When you look at if you were to invest in men’s sports, we’re talking about big numbers, especially from a footballing perspective, but when you invest in women’s sports, you’re also talking about big numbers. If you invest now, it’s going to take ten, twenty years, but you’re going to make so much money.”
In posting about cycling to her 750,000-strong Instagram following, and talking about the Tour de France Femmes on her popular RE-CAP podcast, Heath is doing some of the work in bringing the sport to a whole new audience, and importantly, an audience who are already passionate about women’s sport. Rather than go after cycling fans and men’s sports fans, women’s cycling should look to attract the wider female sport audience. 
“I think there’s something in actually just building the community around women’s sports and creating more pathways to get from one sport to another in women’s sports, because I think there’s a lot of crossover between the things that I’m invested in and care about as a global women’s football fan that are easily translatable into women’s cycling.”
That conversion has definitely worked on Heath. She’s already hoping to come back for the full Tour next year, and is passionate about getting the word out about women’s cycling. 
“I had already gotten hooked on cycling, but then I went to the Tour and when I was learning about all these incredible athletes, I just became really obsessed and really passionate about bringing more attention to the sport and learning more, becoming a fan, and just getting involved and active in it, because I just feel like there’s so much there to appreciate and love.”
We certainly think so too, and with a star as high-profile as Tobin Heath fighting its corner, women’s cycling has found a very exciting new supporter.
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thatstormygeek · 1 month ago
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The problems with her campaign are mostly problems that take years, rather than months, to fix. It sure would be nice if the Democratic Party network had the type of networked media apparatus that the Republican Party network enjoys. It sure would be nice if the party had spent years building local organizing capacity at the grassroots level across swing states and the south (Give us forty-eight more Ben Wiklers and Stacey Abramses, please!). It sure would be nice if the billionaire class hadn’t bought up all the media networks, and if the courts hadn’t repeatedly decided that the law is for little people, and if government was still mostly in the business of trying to improve peoples’ lives. But you campaign in the short-term and then (try to) govern in the medium- or long-term. Over the course of these few months, there aren’t many decisions the Harris campaign has made that I think they should meaningfully regret. I’m not sure how to feel about all the Liz Cheney, cross-partisan-coalition events. It’s clear that the Harris campaign is betting that they can create a permission structure for Nikki Haley voters to cast a ballot for a Democrat. That makes me nervous, because I'm old enough to get a strong Charlie-Brown-and-the-football vibe from it. Throughout my adult life, Democrats have tried to appeal to an imagined bloc of moderate swing voters. It rarely seems to pan out. But I can also see the sense of it here. They’re basically targeting two clusters of voters — Republicans who voted in the primary, are therefore high-propensity voters, and have already voted against Trump because they don’t want to put up with his bullshit anymore, plus low-information moderates who generally just wish the parties could get along. If that sort of message was ever going to work, this is probably the election to try it.
People, en masse, just don’t believe that the economy is in good shape right now. That’s a comms problem for Harris/Walz. You can’t have the candidate insisting “no, no, the public is mistaken. Things are great right now.” That kind of gaslighting is not exactly a winning message. The state of our media infrastructure surely doesn’t help. Elon bought Twitter and turned it into a Republican propaganda and misinformation network. A handful of billionaires own most of our major media outlets, and they do not appreciate that the government is sometimes looking at their cool merger ideas and saying “no.” This, again, is a medium-term problem. You solve it by rebuilding the regulatory state and building your own media institutions over the course of years, not months. Seth Masket has summarized the state of the race as “people want change but MAGA terrifies them.” My personal hunch is that people want change because we have collectively never dealt with the pandemic. It was a once-in-a-century global catastrophe. No one was prepared for it, no one has dealt well with it, and our political leaders do not have the moral authority to address it.
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louisupdates · 1 year ago
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Louis Tomlinson Introduces 28: a Brand Embodying His British Upbringing, Musical Flair, and Football Heritage
Hypebeast sits down with the Doncaster-raised superstar to discover how he channeled his passions into a community-focused streetwear brand.
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Many know Louis Tomlinson as a Doncaster lad-turned-pop-icon and part of era-defining boyband, One Direction. But despite his superstar status, the 31-year-old has never lost touch with his relaxed Northern soul. It’s been central to everything he puts his mind to, from music to football… and now, fashion.
After fighting his way through X Factor, growing his talent in One Direction, and going solo after their break-up in 2015, Tomlinson split fresh ground while keeping authenticity at the forefront. Embracing the rockstar lifestyle, he has traveled worldwide on his own terms, revolutionizing his sound through chart-topping hits, including Bigger Than Me, Change, and Silver Tongues.
Now fiercely independent, Tomlinson is continuing to make strides that set him apart from the crowd, releasing his debut solo album Walls in early 2020. Leaving the pop-forward One Direction sound behind, Tomlinson embarked on a journey of self-discovery by embracing his British roots and revitalizing his musical journey with a fresh mindset.
After returning to London from the third edition of his Away From Home festival in Lido di Camaiore, Italy, Tomlinson prepares to continue his global album tour for Faith in the Future across Europe. But there’s much more than music on his mind these days – before he jets off on tour, he’s sitting down with Hypebeast to discuss all things 28, his all-new streetwear label that embodies everything he has been, is, and will be.
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Growing up in Northern England naturally gravitated Tomlinson to football, selling pies at his boyhood club, Doncaster Rovers. But he’s kept a keen eye on fashion since his early childhood. “When I grew up, I viewed Doncaster as a working-class town. Now, when I go back to Doncaster, the streets have a real sense of style. That wasn’t the norm for me growing up; there was just scruffy and cool — there was really no in-between. We couldn’t afford really nice clothes, so it was just about working with what you got.”
Standing out has always been of utmost importance for Tomlinson, aligning his laidback attitude with the clothes on his back. Football tops were always a staple, taking to vintage and charity shops to find hidden gems that strayed from normality. “It was always important for me to look cool as a young lad, and I always enjoyed wearing good clothes. You might think, in a place like Doncaster, that it isn’t about fashion — and fashion might be the wrong word — because the thing that would turn people’s noses was that everyone is striving to look cool.”
Known for wearing striped tees and suspenders in One Direction, Tomlinson grew into his true self after the band’s hiatus, returning to his Doncaster roots and embracing comfort at all times. “As a young lad going into a business like this, you are surrounded by people telling you what’s cool and what isn’t. I’d say the boys could relate to this; you have to go through the motions of letting the industry tell you what they think you should do — because you don’t have enough confidence in that world yet to say: actually, no, I want to dress how I want to dress,” the singer-songwriter explains.
He grew up wearing essential British tracksuits, football tops, and trainers, drastically different from the boyband style that had every member dressed in “uniform.” “It’s only as I’ve grown confident in myself that I started to revert back to how I dressed as a young lad, just a kind of modern example of that. I really do wear Doncaster on every item of clothing that I put on, even if it’s subconscious, it’s so much a part of who I am.”
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Launching 28 is a tribute to his humble beginnings in music, fashion, and sport, representing his Doncaster Rovers squad number and his lifetime devotion to the football club. The brand idea came to him nearly a decade ago, taking a closer look at standard tour merchandise and finding missing pieces, feeling “a creative itch that I wanted to scratch.”
28’s first drop is a tribute to all things football, embracing the beautiful game through vintage-inspired sports silhouettes destined for summertime. Checkered green tracksuits are ideal for pre-game antics, featuring distorted and faded patterns alongside “OFFICIAL PROGRAMME” collared jerseys.
While concert apparel caterers to the general public, 28 allows his artistic talents to run wild. “That’s why 28 excites me. It’s something that can be a little bit more tailored, a little bit more stylized. I suppose it’s similar to songwriting… seeing how deep your imagination can go when creating clothes.”
When designing 28’s first drop, Tomlinson pushed comfort forward through quality craftsmanship and refined fabric manipulations. His ideas feature heavily across every design, architected on lightweight hoodies, turtleneck collars, and distressed knitwear. Abstract floral illustrations bloom on additional designs, complementing the collection with a neutral color palette. Collections will release on the 28th of each month, expanding its sportswear identity one step at a time.
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28 is undeniably football-focused, making clothes he would identify with as a young boy growing up in “Donny.” Tomlinson aims to bring his community together with interactive drops and a story to tell, enlisting emerging creatives to front the brand’s first campaign. “Community is something that runs throughout everything I do, and after getting the casting ideas for the models, I knew I wanted to use street models. I didn’t want to use that traditional model face because that’s not what I grew up with,” Tomlinson says.
“If I picture that rough lad I grew up with in Doncaster, he certainly didn’t have that look — he just looked cool in the clothes,” Tomlinson says with a wide smile, “There’s a beautiful authenticity to that. I think there’s a more interesting way and authentic way of telling these stories for 28.” While Tomlinson is the brand’s Creative Director, he sees 28 standing on its own two feet without his face attached, building a core community within its evolving identity.
So what’s in store next for Tomlinson? “I’m going back on tour, which is my favorite thing to do. At some point, there’ll be a new record. I don’t know when, though; I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself and just trying to enjoy it. I’m mostly tour-focused right now — that’s why I love creating 28 — because it means that when my brain is all on touring and music, it’s creatively fulfilling to get into something else and scratch that itch.”
TEXT BY
Andrea Sacal
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