Little Kicks: Born Kicking With Iyla Andrews-Gauvain (age 9)

This issue’s Born Kicking reader is nine-year-old Iyla Andrews-Gauvain, who lives in Cambridgeshire, plays for ICA Sports FC Under-9s and supports Wolverhampton Wanderers Women. She is a right-footed defender because she likes stopping the other team scoring, describes herself as good at passing and determined, and would most like to meet Ellen White and Beth Mead. Her heroes are the Wolves Women squad, the England players, and the former Wolves player Lyndsey Glover. A headband, she believes, brings luck to her and her team. Twice hit in the head by the ball in one match, she was told ‘good header, Iyla’ on both occasions. The question she wishes she had been asked was whether she has met a Lioness: she has, Rachel Unitt.