Success In The Sand For Lionesses (England women’s beach soccer win the Euro Beach Soccer League)

England won the inaugural Women’s Euro Beach Soccer League at Nazare in Portugal, beating the Czech Republic 5-0, the reigning champions Russia 3-1 and then Spain 3-1 in the final – the side that had beaten them in the World Beach Games final in Qatar in 2019. Wendy Martin scored in every game, goalkeeper Hannah Haughton scored from her own area against Russia, and Molly Clark and Anne Meiwald settled the final. Four of the squad then describe what it took. There is no funding and no support; the team sourced its own sponsorship, trained six hours every weekend on sand after two-hour drives, had no coach until six weeks before, and got PCR results the night before flying.