Confidence and leadership are important in any profession, but particularly when it comes to goalkeeping. It's a position of real pressure, and performing at the highest level under that pressure isn't easy.
Throughout my career, I’ve learned valuable tips to improve my confidence. For me, confidence starts with preparation. I'm a big believer that you get your strength from your training. It comes from knowing that I've given my best; I made the right decisions; I showed up every day with the attitude to win. I did it in a way that was unapologetically myself, and I didn't shy away from tough moments.
However, I think the world wants you to have imposter syndrome, especially as a female athlete. When I was fortunate enough to experience some success, it was a very new feeling. My career for many years involved a lot of hard work behind closed doors and not a lot of trophies. But the last few years have just been incredible. At first, it was definitely a feeling of: what is this? You question yourself sometimes, or you can be tempted to based on what other people are saying. It’s important to surround yourself with the right people who keep you grounded and tell you the truth, because with success comes difficulties as well.
I also think a lot of reflective work is important. When the world's trying to tell you who to be, it's just remembering who you really are and staying true to your values. Plus knowing that you've worked very hard to deserve something and you don't have to be apologetic for that. You can unreservedly embrace it and enjoy it. That’s definitely my experience. I feel like I've worked tremendously hard for the success that I've had, and maybe people not really understanding the full complexity of my journey and how many more lows there have been than highs.
For being a good leader, my biggest tip is consistency. I think it's based on people seeing who you truly are every single day and being able to rely on you being able to get an honest answer when it's even maybe a little bit ugly. Also just knowing that you're going to be there for your teammates unconditionally, no matter the circumstance. However, I think consistency is probably one of the hardest things to do in the game. To produce consistency over a long period of time is easy to say, but very difficult to do in reality. So, for me, that's what makes a good leader - consistency of character and consistency of performance.
My first tip for improving confidence is to do things with integrity. Be unapologetically yourself, make decisions for the right reasons and with the right intentions. Secondly, always train hard, whatever that looks like in the industry you're in. Apply yourself 110% to whatever you're doing, and work in a way that's best for you.
Also, show discipline. There will be times where you don't want to do something. Having the discipline to do things when you don't want to do them, but you know you need to do them, is one of the greatest forms of self-love.
And when it comes to improving confidence and leadership for the next generation, the Chase football coaching programme is a great example of how we can break down those barriers to entry and inspire more women to get into football coaching. You never know – we could be seeing the next Sarina Wiegman, so if you’re interested, then my advice would be to apply – you won’t regret it.
Mary Earps is a Chase ambassador, working with the digital bank to inspire the next generation of female coaches via the Chase football coaching programme, which provides access to fully funded coaching qualifications for individuals where cost is a barrier. For more information, visit: www.chase.co.uk/gb/en/chase-football-coaching-programme