SCOTLAND’S women’s football team have qualified for the European Championships for the first time ever and a Clackmannanshire Active Schools co-ordinator was delighted to be part of their success.

Leanne Ross, who plays midfield for the national team, said: “It’s the first time the Scottish women’s football team has qualified so it’s really special.”

The team impressed during their campaign, barely losing a game during qualification. 

Leanne commented: “It’s unbelievable. I’ve been involved with the team for 10 years. 

“We’ve been so close before and just missed out.” 

There seemed little doubt Scotland would qualify this time with stunning results including winning 7-0 against Belarus and 10-1 against Macedonia. 

For Leanne, who has been capped more than 120 times, part of this success has been down to a mix of youth and experience. 

She said: “It’s important to have the youth coming through.
“We’ve got a really good balance just now.”

The draw for the finals, which begin on July 17 in Utrecht, will take place next month. 

Before that there is the small matter of a match against The Netherlands in Livingston this Thursday (October 20).

Leanne’s job with Active Schools sees her harness her enthusiasm for football and other sports to encourage youngsters to get active and find a sport they love. 

Currently a big part of her job is being the lead co-ordinator for Active Girls day on Friday, October 28 which sees girls across the country get active and try new sports. 

Leanne explained: “Different school are doing different things. At Menstrie Primary we’ve got primary sevens to lead activities and all pupils can get involved.” 

One way of getting girls into sport according to Leanne is making sure there are role models they can look up to.

Leanne said: “It’s important to have people girls can look up to so they can say I can do it too.”

She credits the recent Olympics as having helped with this. Leanne is also keen that girls get to try as many different sports as possible so they can find one they love.

She added: “Not everyone likes the same thing so it’s good to try different ones.” 

In domestic football Leanne plays for Glasgow City who are currently riding high in the Scottish Women’s Premier League and are closing in on winning their tenth successive title. 

They also competed in the Champions League, but were beaten 3-1 on aggregate by Estkilsuna earlier this month.