Bristol City Women’s Ebony Salmon talks playing for England and staying active.

We’re proud sponsors of Bristol City Women’s football club, a whole team of strong inspiring women! To celebrate International Women’s day, and this year’s theme #choosetochallenge, we sat down with player Ebony Salmon to chat about her career, lifestyle and recent call up to play for England’s Lionesses!

“Getting the call from the England team a couple of weeks ago has been the biggest highlight of my career so far.  It’s something that every football player wants to achieve, so it was definitely a huge milestone!

There are so many strong, talented women and girls out there, my best piece of advice is to not let anyone hold you back or impact your decisions. You need to keep pushing through especially if you’re occupying a space traditionally dominated by men. As a woman and an athlete competing at a high level, there will always be someone or something that tries to hold you back so just ignore it and do your thing!

A lot of my time is spent playing football, which is usually outdoors, so I do enjoy spending time relaxing indoors, especially when it’s on the chilly side! It’s really important for women to stay active, for me football is something that I love and enjoy doing so I do find it quite easy. In the national lockdown when we couldn’t train together as a team, I tried to just get moving when I could – I’ve really enjoyed going for walks! If you’re not used to getting outside and seeing nature, it’s surprising just how much there is to see and do.  Even if it’s just for a small amount of time, getting into the fresh air is great for my mental and physical health.

For anyone that is trying to be more active, my number one tip might sound simple but it’s to just do it!  There will always be an excuse or a distraction that stops you exercising or getting active, but you’ll always feel the benefits. I say get up, get out, do it and you’ll be glad afterwards!

As a footballer, the things you put into your body are so important and have a huge impact on performance and recovery. I’ve learnt that putting the right foods into my body makes a massive difference to what I get out. I always make an effort to choose natural and wholesome food with quality ingredients that are responsibly sourced, like Yeo Valley Organic. It’s nice to know what you’re eating is also doing good for the environment.”