Ronni Harrison

RONNI
What age did you start playing?
I started playing when I was 7/8. My brother had started playing and dad took us both shopping to get all his boots and kit. I asked dad for a pair of boots, and he said you don’t want boots you won’t play football, little did he know what was heading his way.
What is your playing History?
The first team I played for was Brightlingsea Regent and then Colchester centre of excellence. When I was going into secondary school the centre of excellence packed up and I was considering not playing anymore because I was worried what people would think of a girl playing football, but my Brightlingsea manager got back in touch with me, and I joined back there. Once I had left school, I went to Barking abbey where I studied A levels and played football. All my team mates at that college played for Harlow Town so I joined them there. Played there for a couple of seasons. I heard about the Sudbury academy from a friend it seemed like a good fit not having to commute so far and the set ups seemed very similar, so I joined the Academy and I have to say it was the best thing I have done educationally.
Tell us about your football journey
The first season I was at Sudbury coach Terry joined us and helped me with my confidence and taught me so much about the game, Terry then moved to Bowers and Pitsea so for weekend football I went with him. Terry then moved onto Charlton u23s Terry managed to get a trial for me there, within the first couple of sessions the manager Karl signed me. That was through lock down. Karl and Terry left, and I went with Karl to Stevenage. I thoroughly enjoyed playing at Stevenage I loved the set up there, but it was just the distance that made me not enjoy the football. While there I met Fadi, because of the distance I had to travel, Fadi recommended me to Hashtag United. I was invited to train with them at Hashtag they liked my style of play and signed me there, however I was experiencing some health issues, so my spell there was very short.
Confidence has always been a massive thing for me in football. If I don’t feel as if I fit into a team I can’t play to my full potential.
Adrian and Luke had spoken to me on a few occasions about coming back to AFC Sudbury so I thought I would give the training a try, after a couple of sessions I knew this was the right place for me, so I put pen to paper and signed for the Women’s team. Somehow, I felt at home at Sudbury, my confidence has always shone here and to cap it all I was part of the treble winning squad of 21/22 not a bad return to my roots I would say. The club set up at Sudbury is excellent. The pathway from the academy to the Women’s team and now with the link up to the Essex university for further education is unbelievable for a club like us. Our first league game this season against Stevenage was a great marker for what our squad can achieve, my team put on such a fantastic positive performance a 2:3 loss felt like a win.
Stevenage competed in the Football Association Women’s National League last season and our girls from Sleepy Suffolk did more than compete we had them worried at times. I think that within the next couple of seasons we would be able to get to the Football Association Women’s National League
I am loving every minute of it now, and I am so looking forward to the future here at Sudbury