Red Roses star Botterman on coping with ADHD

BBC News

5 hours ago

England star Hannah Botterman says she hopes her ADHD diagnosis proves that the condition does not hold you back.She is about to play for the Red Roses in the World Cup and hoping the team can go one better than their defeat in the final by New Zealand four years ago.Botterman admits that as a child, she was "a bit of a problem" and often got into trouble."I was branded the naughty kid at school who wouldn't shut up," she tells BBC Sport."I was looking at some old videos of me at a sports day, and I was thinking, 'How has no-one picked that up [her ADHD] a bit sooner?'"Everyone was on the start line, and I was messing around. I didn't realise how much it affected me. I would have loved my parents to know that I wasn't deliberately being the naughty kid."ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.For children, there are two main areas of concern:Inattention - this involves forgetting things, difficulty concentrating, organising themselves, or focusing on what a teacher is saying.Hyperactivity and Impulsivity – symptoms include struggling to stay still, fidgeting, interrupting people, overtaking people in a queue, not waiting their turn, or a lack of danger awareness.Botterman was diagnosed with the condition in November 2024 and says she has embraced it. "It's a big part of me and I'm not embarrassed by it and it's not something you should fight."Children with ADHD can be branded with something they can have no control over."But there are definitely struggles with it. "A lot of the time it's not necessarily the hyperactivity; it's more the mental stimulation."We just want to be the most liked and loved in the room, so be kind to those who have it."
'I was given my first two caps because there were genuinely no props left'
The front-row forward, from Hertfordshire, has rugby in her blood, with uncle Gregg Botterman and aunt Jane Everett both former England internationals.Botterman herself started playing at the age of four, but almost quit the game altogether before joining Saracens in 2017.As a teenager she was asked to leave Hartpury College and admits she was given too much freedom and got into too much trouble."It was the first time I had been away from home," she says. "I wanted to be a 16-year-old and do what I wanted, when I wanted. I fell out of love with the game. "But being a professional rugby player wasn't an option for me back then. I didn't have that external driving force that younger girls have now. "If I knew I could have done this for a living, I would have been a better 16 year old.""I worked in a Harvester [restaurant], I did painting and decorating, and didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. "I was given my first two England caps because there were genuinely no props left in England."Her international debut eight years ago gave her a focus and a renewed determination."From that point on, I put my head down. I ate salads instead of pasties every day. I'd go to gym before and after work, and got myself in good shape to be called up for my third cap a year or so later. I worked hard and earned my place."Botterman, who moved from Saracens to Bristol in 2023, has since become one of England's most dynamic players, winning 58 caps, and helping the team to a 27-game winning streak."My exterior look would suggest I am probably a bit intimidating," she says."I may be one of the loudest in the room but ultimately I want to remembered as someone who cares pretty deeply about this team and what we want to do."But at the last Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2021, she faced one of the toughest moments of her career.In the space of a few days, an injury ruled her out of the semi-final, the final, and rugby for six months - and on the day of the final, her grandfather died."That time was extremely difficult, but it gave me a wider perspective that there is a lot more to life than rugby."
Fast forward to 2025 and Botterman wants to inspire children across England as the Red Roses travel to Sunderland, Brighton and Northampton during the pool stages of this summer's World Cup.They face the USA at the Stadium Of Light on Friday, followed by group games against Samoa and Australia.The final takes place at Twickenham on 27 September, with the Red Roses hoping to lift the trophy for the first time since 2014. "To be able to take rugby around the country is really special. It will be a really big occasion, getting the support of the country behind us," Botterman says."We have nothing to prove externally, but it's about proving to ourselves that we can lift the title."