Airdrie ace from East Kilbride Pirates has big dream in new Olympic sport

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An Airdrie teenager is excelling in American football, with several opportunities to advance in what is now an Olympic sport.And Abi Coleman’s mum Lynn Cushley says it couldn’t be easier for Scottish kids to follow in her talented daughter’s footsteps.Abi, 16, currently plays for East Kilbride Pirates U16 contact, women’s contact and women’s flag football teams, and mixed flag for Glasgow Bees.The St Margaret’s High pupil was in Italy earlier this year with the GB flag team at the European Championships, winning gold in GB’s first ever tournament.And taking part in Loughborough University’s two-year Diploma in Sports Excellence (DiSE) course has delayed her trial for the women’s GB contact team in Nottingham until the end of this month.Mum Lynn is delighted with Abi’s progress, and says others can get in the same boat.Lynn, from Salsburgh, said: “Abi is dedicated, absolutely.

She started playing aged 11, but due to Covid there wasn’t anything and she went straight into contact aged 13.“Here in Scotland, there’s no non-contact and American flag football is going to the Olympics in 2028, so there’s a massive push on that.“This is a sport that is readily available for all the kids, and it’s funded.“All I pay is £25 a month, and that’s Abi’s training twice a week, all her kit is paid for, so for somebody to get into it, it’s such a good community and it’s so affordable.“The under-17s won gold at the European Championships, there were only seven of them and it’s five-a-side, so a lot of them were playing the full-time in attack and defence and never got any drives off.“Abi got invited in July to the first trial in Loughborough and they were picking from all the other clubs.“She also got invited to trial for the GB contact