
Andreatta on 'legend' Corsie, Scotland leadership & squad belief
New Scotland head coach Melissa Andreatta has been talking with the media before her first game in charge, the Nations League A visit of Austria to Hampden on Friday.Here are the key points:On captain Rachel Corsie, who retires after the double-header against Austria and the Netherlands: "What a legend! It's been super humbling to to work with her and the professionalism of Rachel is what's really stood out and her willingness to share her experiences with both players and staff."Andreatta adds: "All she's focused on is her role and what the team needs to do to play the way we want to."The Scotland boss believes the loss of Corsie's leadership going forward will tell but says the transition has been "occurring naturally" in her absence: "People have had to step up and there's actually been a lot of support around the leadership group to do that. In their own right they're leaders at club. So they've had a lot of opportunity to lead both at club and country."The former Australia assistant insists Scotland can stay in the Nations League top tier despite a poor run of results.She adds: "I only see opportunity and yes, there's going to be tough times and there's a lot of progress to be made, but we believe we have what it takes and we're going to fight."Andreatta admits it's natural that confidence may have dipped given recent results but the players "believe they can do something and it's just putting all the pieces together in order for us to match that belief with the performance and the results".
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Fans pile on sportswear giants and insist brand DROPS Olympic icon Simone Biles over trans controversy
Athleta, the women's athletic apparel brand owned by Gap Inc., is facing backlash over spokeswoman Simone Biles ' online feud with conservative activist Riley Gaines. 'Not 1 penny to Athleta until you drop Simone,' one critic wrote in response to an ad on X. The controversy began on Friday when Gaines retweeted a picture of a Minnesota softball team that recently won a state title with a player who is reported to be transgender. 'Comments off lol,' Gaines wrote in response to an X post that was prohibiting any responses. 'To be expected when your star player is a boy.' Gaines' post sparked a blistering response from Biles, who first criticized the activist's remark before accusing her of being built like a man. 'You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,' Biles wrote. 'Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! 'But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!' Biles then responded to Gaines again, writing: 'Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.' Gaines' supporters lashed out at Athleta on X by accusing Biles of denigrating women. 'Your brand ambassador @Simone_Biles is not standing up for and in fact bullying women in sports,' one critic claimed. 'Nice.' 'Women should stand for and with other women athletes, in victory and defeat,' another added. 'Body shaming, using size attributes as an insult, some 'movement' this'll turn into when coercion and body shaming are its tools.' One critic wrote: 'Biles, as brand ambassador, needs to apologize for her repugnant comments AGAINST women and girls. Get to work, Athleta - time to pick our female side.' Several others offered some version of the 'go woke, go broke' refrain. Daily Mail has reached out to spokespeople for Biles, Gap Inc. and Athleta. Issuing a rebuke to Biles, Gaines posted video of herself being measured at 5-foot-5 – both below her listed height on Wikipedia and well shorter than most American men. 'Figured I would whip out a tape measure to settle this debate,' Gaines said in the clip she posted on X. Wikipedia says I'm 5-foot-9. Simone Biles, yesterday, told me to bully someone my own size and then said: 'Ironically, that would be a man.' Gaines used Biles' dig to remind her audience about the origin of their online beef: the debate over transgender athletes in female sports. 'Number one, acknowledging there are differences between men and women, number two, this is my 6-foot-4 husband,' Gaines continued, motioning towards her English-born swimmer Louis Barker. Like her husband, Gaines was also a swimmer at the University of Kentucky , which is how she began advocating against the inclusion of transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports. It was in 2022 that Gaines famously tied for fifth place with transgender University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas in the 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship. Referencing Thomas by her former name, Gaines claimed the ex-Penn swimmer is the same height as her husband, although online records put her three inches shorter at 6-foot-1. Regardless, Gaines continued to make her point that she is not, in fact, as big as a man. 'Clearly I don't have shoes on,' Gaines said while recording her reflection from a full-length mirror. Issuing a rebuke to Biles, Gaines posted video of herself being measured at 5-foot-5 – both below her listed height on Wikipedia and well shorter than most American men Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines react after finishing tied for 5th in the 2022 200-Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming Championships The outspoken conservative continued: 'I have to stand on it or haters are gonna say we have a Republican tape measure.' She then turned the camera toward the tape measure, revealing her height to be 5-foot-5.5. 'Five-foot-five,' she said, adding: 'And a half. 'This is for the Wikipedia people who list me at 5-foot-9, this is for Simone Biles who tells me to bully someone my own…' Gaines said before the clip ended abruptly. As of Saturday evening, Wikipedia was listing Gaines at 5-foot-7. It's unclear if it was changed recently. And if it matters: Biles is listed at 4-foot-8.


The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
The local council trying to recruit a teacher for more than six years
A local council has been trying to recruit a teacher for a remote island primary school for more than six years, according to new figures. The Scottish Liberal Democrats said data they uncovered shows that local authorities have had to readvertise more than 1,350 teaching posts in the last two years. This includes a primary school teacher position on Papa Westray – one of the smallest islands in Orkney – which, at the time the request for information was made, had been vacant since the end of March 2019. Figures released by councils show 692 teaching positions had to be readvertised in 2022-23, with a further 665 posts needed to be advertised again in 2023-24. The Lib Dems said the data, uncovered using freedom of information laws, shows Moray Council has had to readvertise 252 teaching roles over the past two years, while Aberdeen has had to readvertise 206, Shetland 90, and Argyll and Bute 70. Highland Council has had to readvertise 62 teaching posts, according to the data, just ahead of Dumfries and Galloway where the total was 61. In addition, the party noted that Western Isles Council has advertised a PE teacher role nine times, while a post for a home economics teacher in Aberdeen was advertised six times – with East Ayrshire Council also adverting a teaching post six times. Lib Dem education spokesman Willie Rennie said action is needed to 'make teaching an attractive role if we are to tackle these shortfalls'. He said: 'Qualified teachers are enduring years of short-term, zero hours contracts yet some schools are advertising roles over and over again without success. 'This data suggests that there are acute shortages in rural areas and in key subjects like maths. 'Terrible workforce planning has resulted in missed opportunities for so many young people and so many teachers too. If we want every young person to reach their potential, they need teachers who can inform and inspire.' He said the Lib Dems would introduce three-year packages for probationer teachers 'who are willing to take on hard-to-fill roles', and would also bring in 'teacher premiums' in a bid to 'reward the best teachers in schools with the greatest need'. However he warned: 'No-one believes education is high up the SNP's agenda. That's why we need a change of government to get Scottish education back to its best.' A spokesperson for local government body Cosla accepted there are 'long standing recruitment and retention challenges in remote, rural and island areas, and in some secondary school subjects'. The spokesperson said: 'Local authorities work hard to fill vacancies to meet the needs of learners in all areas of Scotland, but there are challenges. 'For example, we know that newly qualified teachers tend to seek posts within the central belt of Scotland. 'Many of the areas which struggle to recruit teachers are beautiful and exciting areas of the country to work in, with unique opportunities for learning and development. 'Cosla and Scottish Government have committed to working together on medium and long-term joint workforce planning, taking into account the importance of responding to issues in a way which addresses differing local needs.' A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The number of teachers in Scotland's classrooms has increased by more than 2,500 over the past decade as a result of direct funding from the Scottish Government, with the number in permanent posts remaining stable at more than 80% over this period. 'However, we are working hard to ensure that teaching remains an attractive profession, with Scotland's teachers continuing to be the best paid in the UK, and our teaching bursary scheme provides funding to career-changers wishing to undertake a teaching degree in the hardest to fill subjects. 'Ministers have been clear they are laser-focused on improving education and supporting Scotland's teachers. That is why we are providing councils with £186.5 million this year to increase teacher numbers, and why ministers continue to engage regularly with local government and teaching unions. 'The Education Secretary also met School Leaders Scotland this week and agreed to host a roundtable with them, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, Cosla and other professional associations to discuss challenges around teacher recruitment in more detail.'


The Independent
8 hours ago
- The Independent
The tiny sport stirring up a big controversy in Spain
A niche sport with roots in Spain's Basque Country has become embroiled in political controversy, sparking court action and igniting nationalist sentiments in the region. The dispute arose after the Basque Country was granted the right to compete as a nation in international pelota vasca competitions, a sport with a fleeting Olympic appearance over a century ago. The decision led to disagreements between sports officials and politicians, escalating to the point where the Court of Arbitration for Sport was asked to intervene. The conflict reached a climax this weekend when the Basque Country and Spain faced each other in the pelota vasca Nations League, a scenario previously deemed improbable. The Basque Country, also known as Euskadi, maintains a strong cultural identity and traditions in a region once scarred by violence. The Basque separatist movement began in the late 1950s and was led by the now-defunct militant group ETA. In 2011, the group declared a 'definitive end' to an armed conflict that killed nearly 900 people, and it officially disbanded in 2018. What is pelota vasca and who won? Pelota vasca, also known as Basque pelota, is played on a court with players using their hands and different types of rackets to hit the ball against a high wall. Depending on which version of the sport is being played, there are different court measurements — all of them with a high front wall and most with another high side wall. The biggest court is 54 meters long (177 feet long). In the Basque Country region, it's considered by many as a national sport. There were jeers when the Spanish national anthem played at the awards ceremony in the Basque Country location of Gernika-Lumo. The Basque Country won the men's final on Friday night, while Spain took the victory in the women's decider. The sport's Spanish federation had strongly opposed the recognition of the Basque team, citing alleged illegalities in the recognition process by the international body. It denounced 'pressure, threats and coercion' against Basque players who had chosen to play for Spain. Spain eventually went to the Court of Arbitration for Sports and asked for a ruling on the legality of the changes made in the bylaws of the international federation to allow the Basque team to be recognized. The Spanish federation said it was not allowed to vote in the general assembly in late December. The CAS decision is still pending. 'It's essential to emphasize that this is not an issue against the Basque Country, but rather a matter of legality,' the Spanish federation said in one of its many statements. The Spanish federation at one point complained of a lack of government support and was especially upset when the nation's top sports official, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, said that pelota vasca shouldn't be considered a Spanish sport in the sense that it is not played throughout the nation. The Spanish federation said the sport has an 'unquestionable national presence' with more than 10,000 athletes in the country. Politicians in the Basque Country had deemed the recognition by the international federation as historic. They had been working on making that possible for several years but lacked legal backing within local laws and statutes. 'It was unimaginable not too long ago to see these athletes wearing the Basque Country jersey in an international competition,' said Aitor Esteban, president of the Basque Nationalist Party. 'I think it's an important and exciting step. It's another step toward national recognition as a country. This international presence gives us visibility.' The Spanish federation said the Nations League can't be considered an official competition because the international federation did not meet the requirements needed to be able to host the event on Spanish soil, which included proper approval by Spanish officials. The Spanish federation said it only participated in the event out of consideration for its athletes who wanted to play and were afraid that the competition could eventually serve as a qualifier for next year's world championships in Argentina, as indicated by the international body. The Spanish federation insisted it can't be considered an official competition. The Basque federation of pelota vasca praised the fact that its national team became a 'reality.' 'We were born to grow and promote pelota vasca. It is part of our culture, of our identity and of our people," it said. 'We look to the future with hope, the future is ours.' In addition to Spain and the Basque Country, the other participants in the Nations League were the United States, France, Mexico and the Philippines. Pelota vasca was an official Olympic sport at the 1900 Paris Games and has been a demonstration sport several times since then, most recently in Barcelona in 1992. Variations of pelota vasca include jai alai, which in the United States is mostly played in Florida. Other countries where the sport is seen include France, Argentina, Mexico and Cuba.