When London Seaward defender Beatrice Rogers stepped up to take her first penalty of her career, she probably wasn’t expecting to be wearing goalkeeper gloves.
An early injury to Alex Baker meant Rogers found herself between the sticks for over an hour, not that it seemed to faze her, as she saved a penalty and forced a shootout after a 1-1 draw at Harringay.
But after dispatching the winning spot-kick to send London Seaward through in the Capital Women’s Cup, goalkeeping became yet another challenge the 19-year-old has conquered.
Rogers said: “he whole thing was wild. I used to play in goal when I was seven, so I said I’m happy because I’ll do whatever the team needs.
“I didn’t know if I was capable of diving to save a goal, so it was just pure instinct to save the penalty.
“When I scored, I didn’t realise we’d won until my teammates were running at me celebrating.”
Rogers’ penalty has earned London Seaward a quarter-final clash with Sutton United, the latest chapter in her fledgling career.
After a tough few years at Cambridge United, featuring a loan spell at Stevenage, Rogers is now playing week in, week out, in the National League, and there’s been plenty for her to adjust to.
She said: “When I was benched at Cambridge, there were only two ways that it could go. Either I’d give up or I’d use it as motivation.
“I’ve used that tough season and learnt from my first real experience of women’s football, so I’m proud of my time at the U’s.
“Moving clubs is like moving schools, but you’re the only new kid in your year.
“But London Seaward was quite nice, as everyone was new to the club. It didn’t take long for the dynamic to form, and I’ve made some friends for life in this team.”
London Seaward has endured a difficult season, sitting 11th in Division One South East, with just one win all season, after a summer squad overhaul and manager George Murphy standing down on medical advice.
But under new boss Jason Murray, the independent women’s club is looking to use Rogers’ performance to kick-start a great escape.
Rogers said: “We’ve come on from where I joined in August to now, but it’s the part of the season where we need to start getting points and I believe we can.”
Like so many in the women’s game, her resilience and confidence come from facing adversity in her youth as she battled past those who stood in her way, which at times included her own school.
Attending a private school in Cambridge gave her extensive access to sports facilities, but football was always fifth choice for the school behind rugby, hockey, cricket, and tennis.
Students were not allowed to play the world’s most popular sport until Sixth Form.
Rogers said: “Pursuing a sport that the school didn’t recognise was hard, especially with the added difficulty of being the only girl on the team.
“There weren’t many positive experiences from playing with boys. It was beneficial for my career to play with boys, with a different style and physicality, so it made the transition from youth to women’s football easier.
“But the coach wasn’t that accepting of having a girl on the team. He enjoyed the lad’s environment of football, and my presence threw that off for him.
“Even our coach driver that drove us down to training asked, ‘Are you the referee or something?’ and I got comments from the opposition and even comments from my team-mates.
“But I was very determined to carry on. It was a change that needed to happen at the school.
“There are going to be girls that want to play at that school, I hope that being the first has made it easier for them.”
Even though the Essex-based star had played since she was six years old, she was dropped from the school team, leaving her confused and frustrated.
Rogers said: “Feeling like my gender was holding me back from pursuing football was horrible. The school told me there was increased injury risk with me playing with boys, but that should be up to me.
“They blamed the physicality, but I was one of the fastest, strongest, and most athletic on the team. But purely because I was a girl, they assumed that wasn’t the case.”
There weren’t just problems surrounding her inclusion though, as the pressure of being in such a high-achieving school was relentless.
Rogers was training every day and playing two matches a weekend, so getting solid A-Level results was a remarkable achievement.
Now she’s hopeful that her education has already set her up for a future, albeit a distant future, in sports media and coaching. Next step? Social media.
Rogers said: “I’m really interested in helping the next generation of girls get into the game and create that environment that I didn’t have when I was younger.
“When I was scrolling on social media a few years back, I found that there was a lack of women’s football content creators out there.
“If we increase the representation, it will inspire more girls to get involved. It is a sport for everyone and anyone.”
Having started posting regularly only a year ago, after signing a professional contract with Under Armour, Rogers has amassed almost 5,000 followers already on Instagram, as well as impressive LinkedIn and TikTok accounts.
She credits the Under Armour partnership, along with consistent support from her family, for her career so far.
Rogers said: “It was crazy the amount of time my family gave up for me, and I couldn’t have done it without them, but Under Armour has been life-changing.
“The thing that has helped me the most is being surrounded by a group of like-minded people. They have similar goals to me, and the community there has been amazing. I’m getting towards my ultimate goal, to be able to make money out of my football.”
With access to nutritionists, psychologists, sleep therapists, equipment, and gym programs, Rogers is improving rapidly, and she even made her FA Cup debut this season London Seaward’s 3-1 win against Hackney.
Although the WSL dream feels far away, there hasn’t been a challenge yet that she’s not been able to surmount.
Maybe she’ll even consider picking up the gloves more regularly.
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