Local Hero: Stacey Hubbard from Seacroft Community On Top

We catch-up with Stacey Hubbard from Seacroft Community On Top who recently won a Leeds Sports Award and is celebrating SCOT FC expanding.

Transcript

00:00 Being able to provide something for the community, for everyone to be involved in, it makes it

00:04 all worth it and the kids coming away with a smile on their faces, regardless of whether

00:08 they win, lose, draw, as long as they're here having fun with their friends, that's all

00:12 that matters to me.

00:13 When it comes to being a hero in the community, Stacey Hubbard truly is a force for good.

00:19 Seacroft Community on Top, or SCOT for short, has seen its activities expand for all ages,

00:25 encouraging children to get into and stay engaged with sport and keeping older people

00:30 active.

00:31 We caught up with Stacey at the Fernville playing fields.

00:35 Two years ago we started with three football teams, since then we have grown massive.

00:41 We have now 11 teams, 12 teams, I can't really remember myself, a lot more female participants

00:47 which has been for us to be able to create all girls teams.

00:51 We didn't realise that it was needed as much as it is, so yeah, it's been fantastic.

00:58 Dan's cheerleading, gym and seated exercise sessions are coordinated at the Dennis Healey

01:03 Centre and Stacey was crowned the Community Coach of the Year at the Leeds Sports Awards

01:07 2024, with SCOT FC runners-up in the Community Club of the Year category.

01:14 It was so emotional, I must have cried about 20 times before I got onto the stage.

01:18 I'm a loss for words, I've never been lost for words in my life, but I was lost for words.

01:23 But yeah, it was an emotional rollercoaster from the moment that we got nominated to the

01:30 night itself and even now it's still like wow, people are still saying 'oh well done'

01:33 and it's like 'oh yeah, I forgot about that, I've won that'.

01:36 As the team has grown, so too have many friendships, with players and parents benefiting from the

01:41 social side of sport.

01:43 Stacey has been a real hero to many.

01:45 At first when I started I probably couldn't kick a ball, I just doofed it up the pitch.

01:52 But now that Stacey's come and we've evolved, everyone's evolved, I think Stacey's just

01:58 made us all better players and I'd say where we are in our league right now and how we're

02:04 doing is pretty good.

02:06 She's brilliant, given me the chance to be a coach, always has the coach's back and she's

02:11 always there with advice, what we need and just in general a really nice person and a

02:19 great friend to have as well.

02:20 She's one of the best coaches that you can ask for, she brings the equipment, we bring

02:25 the hard work.

02:26 She's also just, I can't even think of a word, she's just an amazing coach.

02:31 People say that all the time, that if it weren't for me this and that wouldn't happen, but

02:35 I always say if it weren't for these guys wanting to do it then it wouldn't be where

02:39 we are now, so a massive thank you to all our volunteers, everybody who comes and helps

02:44 because like I say, they are like gold dust, we want to keep them forever so they're fantastic.

02:51 For me, I love what I do, I will continue to do it going forward to the foreseeable