By Michael Preston

Great Britain quarterback Brittany Botterill has been waiting patiently for two years to lead her side into competitive action on the international stage. Finally, that time has come.

Back in 2021, her commitment attend GB training sessions involved taking a 12-hour flight from her then home base in San Diego to London and a train and a bus to the camp’s venue, which was usually located north of the Midlands. With Israel her next planned destination the British federation decided against entering flag football teams in that year’s IFAF World Championships, at a time of lingering concerns over the pandemic that had wreaked worldwide havoc. As a result, the reigning European silver medalists were also ineligible to participate in the 2022 World Games.

Now, with the IFAF European Flag Football Championships poised to kick off in Ireland, the continental competition is a platform to release any lingering frustrations in Limerick.

“Frustration is probably an understatement to be fair,” says Brittany. “I was newer to it but some of the girls on the team had been to the Euros numerous times and this was something they were looking forward to doing.

“Now, I just want to get on the field, I just want to show people what we can do and I just want to play football honestly against people other than ourselves. We’ve got a lot of buildup, we’ve got a lot of excitement and we’re itching to get out there.”

These days, Brittany’s commute from her new home in Boston, Massachusetts, takes half the time she used to spend in flight, but is still an arduous journey that she has taken consistently to ensure she remains part of the GB set up. Her work-life balance also includes trans-Atlantic travel in pursuit of sporting success.

“I’m fortunate to work from home and so the jobs that I’ve worked have always been extremely understanding about the travel aspect,” she explains. “I have a teammate, Amy, who has always been gracious by letting me stay with her, which really helps because you’re in a home environment, you eat good food, you're in a good place.

“But I think the reason that it’s worth it, other than I just love being around the girls, is that flag football is still growing and we’re playing at the highest level, for a national program. That is an opportunity that not a lot of people have and so that is kind of what keeps me going to do this.  Even though I live in the US, I love being here England. Great Britain has always had a place in my heart. To be able to represent a country that’s meant a lot to me is an honor and a privilege. It’s a trek but it’s worth it for the national team.”

Brittany was born in Wisconsin after her father, who hails from Doncaster in England, moved to the United States, where he had met her mother while both were coaching sports at a summer camp. Her American upbringing was heavily influenced by the family’s English heritage, including waking up early at the weekend to watch Manchester United matches at five o’clock in the morning from San Diego. Brittany worked for the English Football Association one summer and studied law in the UK. Her selection for the GB flag team was somewhat unique.

“My dad works for a company that does a lot of the uniforms for NFL Flag and he was at an event and he met Phoebe Schecter, who is now a teammate of mine, and somehow they got to talking. I’m guessing my dad volunteered that I played flag football, knowing him.

“The next thing I know I think I was shopping somewhere and he texted me and asked if I wanted to play for the GB national team but I didn’t even know what sport he was talking about! Before long, people were helping me figure out how to get there and have somewhere to stay.

“I went to two training camps, made the squad in 2021 and now I’m excited for that opportunity to finally play.”

A former college soccer player who grew up playing the round ball sport coached by her father, Brittany’s flag football experience has seen her feature for the San Diego Breakers, a San Diego Blitz team that traveled throughout the United States, the Cougars in Barcelona, and in the Boston flag league since relocating to the northeast this spring.

While always available to make that trek across the pond to join her teammates, Brittany was able to stay home last weekend as Great Britain held a virtual training camp in preparation for their challenge in Ireland.

“With GB it gets extremely competitive at training camp and when we get on the field you've got offense and defense going at it, everyone’s playing hard you’re also trying typically to earn a spot and if the team is already selected, you’re trying to keep your starting spot,” Brittany explains. “So, it is a competitive atmosphere and we didn’t want injuries at this point, so getting together virtually made sense.

“We went through our playbook, finalized it, talked about the purpose of the routes, talked about who’s most likely to kind of be in what position and opened it to feedback to see if anybody had some changes. From a defensive perspective, we’d go over some scenarios and watch a little bit of film, which is huge because you see something totally different than when you’re playing.

“I’m really just getting into that nitty gritty and the details of our routes our defenses and then watching a little bit of film on other teams, but we can only control what we can control right now and that’s us and how we perform. It was a long day, but we covered a lot of good information.”

So, what can the Euros expect from the Great Britain team absent since winning that silver medal last time around?

“Most of our defense has played on the same team together for a while and you can tell they click, they have each other’s backs,” Brittany observes. “They’re just very disciplined they’re technically sound and committed football players. They put a lot of effort into this and you can tell they’re connected on and off the field.

“From an offensive perspective, we have such a variety of receivers, and you know what routes they’re going to run and if you get them the ball, they’ve got strong hands. We have a little bit of a different offense than when I started and so we’re all kind of still learning about each other, but off the field we’re all clicking.”