Buckie Ladies set sights on hat-trick of national award wins
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BUCKIE Ladies FC are in the running for not one but three national football wards next month.
The side, who have won back to back Highlands and Islands League and League Cup titles, have been nominated for multiple trophies at the Scottish Women's Football (SWF) Women's Football Awards.
The club itself has been shortlisted for the Scottish Power Sustainable Club of the Year, while capping a fine season for Buckie Ladies goalkeeper Sophia Golebiewski is hoping to get her extremely reliable hands on the Highlands and Islands Player of the Year trophy. Team manager Laura Duncan is in the hunt for Volunteer of the Year
Having a shot at the award is no surprise for Buckie's talented teen keeper. Ms Golebiewski, who is just 18, has kept an incredible eight clean sheets over the course of 15 games in the league and League Cup in what is her second year with the Gordon Park side.
However, irrespective of whether she claims the Player of the Year title, the Banff keeper has already conquered far greater peaks to become one of the outstanding Highlands and Islands League keepers and an inspiration to all.
She said: "I was a pupil at Banff Primary but I only went to Banff Academy a few times, it was very difficult, I just couldn't go.
"It was then that I was diagnosed with autism.
"However, autism hasn't stopped me playing football or being the best I can be."
Despite an outstanding season by any standards, news of the nomination came as something of a bolt from the blue.
"I was really surprised, it feels really good," she continued.
"It's like all my hard work is paying off.
"My first season with Buckie Ladies was easier than last season when we had a lot of really challenging games."
Football has been something of a lifelong passion for Buckie's rock between the posts, who is a bit of an all-round athlete.
She began playing with Deveronvale's kids set-up when she was in P3 with a boys team for a short while. After leaving her love for the sport remained undiminished and she played football in the back garden with her brothers.
While football has always been her number one love, she showed great aptitude at rugby and also enjoyed boxing.
A return to the Vale was in the offing, though.
Ms Golebiewski said: "My football really started when I was 13 and I returned to Deveronvale.
"Even though I was quite young I played with the under-16 girls; I was very tall even back then and the coaches thought I was too big to play with the under-13s.
"I was there for three years and actually started as an outfield player but our goalie left and I was asked to go in goal – during training I was always asking to go in goals.
"It all took off from there."
Ready for the challenge of stepping up to a senior side, Buckie Ladies were recommended to the young keeper as an ideal destination.
Taking on the gloves and being the last line of defence is not, however, a complete surprise – the Golebiewskis' younger and older sons were both goalkeepers.
Away from winning medals with Buckie Ladies Ms Golebiewski is – like the rest of her household – a Celtic fan and also supports Tottenham in the English Premier League.
There were high words of praise for her mature, championship-winning performances between the sticks as Buckie finished the season as the Highlands and Islands League invincibles. Over the course of the league season she conceded a mere eight goals in 12 games, half that of second placed Orkney.
Buckie Ladies boss Laura Duncan continued: "Last season was Sophia's second one with us and to be honest she's one of the main reasons we did so well.
"She's very reliable and makes the team feel more confident knowing they've a good keeper in goal. Sophia's quite a talent and really keen.
"We're very lucky to have her as good keepers are few and far between."
For Mrs Duncan, who only took over the reins at Buckie at the start of last season, the nominations a fitting end for an exceptional season for the team.
"It's just brilliant, it's a great honour for the club to be nominated for three national awards," she said.
"It caps a fairytale couple of seasons for us, especially considering where the club came from.
"The club's nomination is recognition for a lot of hard work done by many people behind the scenes in developing young players and bringing them through the ranks. We're seeing the fruit of a lot of people's labours.
"Buckie Ladies is very much about investing in the future through younger players. At the cup final the younger players came along and had a great day. They had a chance to speak to the senior players. After the game they were all saying they want to play for Buckie Ladies, that's what it's all about."
Buckie Ladies' trophy-laden double double winning seasons are a far cry from the club's humble early days in the then SWFL Division 2 North during which soul-sapping, heavy defeats were the norm before switching to the Highlands and Islands League. As a founder member of the club back in 2016, it is a fact not lost on Mrs Duncan as she waits to hear if she will be emerging from Hampden with the silverware.
She said: "As far as I know the nomination is for my time with the club, not just as manager for the last season.
"It's a huge personal honour to be nominated; I certainly wasn't expecting it and it came a bit of a bolt from the blue.
"In 2016 there was just a few of us around. We enjoyed watching football but there were no opportunities to be part of a team, something I really wished we'd all had when we were younger.
"Buckie Thistle had an under-16 team at the time and we were invited up to train with them. Six of us went along and that's how Buckie Ladies started. It's difficult to believe how far we've come in such a short space of time."
Mrs Duncan has been a football fan from a young age and supports Liverpool FC.
The full list of nominees in the three categories in which Buckie Ladies feature are: Scottish Power Sustainable Club of the Year: Buckie Ladies; Busby Girls, Shetland Girls; Dryburgh Athletic. Volunteer of the Year: Laura Duncan (Buckie Ladies); Scott Duncan (Dyce); Niomi McConnell (Easterhouse); Brady Hutchison and Gary Cother (Annan). Highlands and Islands Player of the Year: Sophia Golebiewski (Buckie Ladies); Franci Hutchison (Sutherland Ladies); Lisa Mason (Nairn St Ninian); Carly Erridge (Caithness).
The winners will be unveiled at a ceremony in Hampden Park due to be held on Saturday, November 25.
