Kim on ball with football US deal

Jul 18 2008 By Michael Pringle

Up until recent years, when most people thought of girls playing football the image of Gregory’s Girl was conjured up. Girls and ladies football has moved on somewhat since the Bill Forsyth cult movie of the early 80s.

The girls and football movie theme, was brought up to date in recent times with the Bend it Like Beckham movie. The movie was a massive hit and David and Victoria Beckham have since taken their family to the States. And now the US of A had better brace for another talented soccer star - Ayrshire’s own Kim Mair that is!

18-year-old Kim is giving up life on a farm near Dalrymple to head for sunnier climes and a football scholarship in South Carolina. As well as the football she will be studying towards a degree, majoring in business administration.

Parents Colin and Moraig are backing their daughter one hundred percent and despite pointing out that she may well get homesick and that there will be a lot of hard work involved, both on the pitch and in the classroom, Kim is determined to fulfil her dream.

Dad Colin admitted, “We tried to point out that it wasn’t as straight forward as Kim thought but she was determined and carried out all the work herself, we didn’t encourage her but now it’s actually happening we’re supporting her”.

The former Ayr United girl started playing the game at nine, by the age of 12 she had moved up to the under 17 squad. There was never a team at her age group so this led to a steep learning curve. By the age of 14 she had moved up to the over-17 age group.

When Ayr United folded a couple of years ago it left Kim without a club, together with a couple of team mates from Maybole she tried in vain to resurrect the club but they just couldn’t get enough players to make up a full team.

The starlet moved to Kilmarnock Ladies but failed to settle into the set-up there. Disillusioned Kim then spent six months without a club before signing for Glasgow United. “I was desperate to get a game straight away and play regular”, said Kim.

The reality of studying in the United States has been more expensive than the teenager first imagined. Kim has been saving and working for the last few years to try to fund her four year degree.

Although 75 percent of her fees are paid through attaining the scholarship with Erskine College, Kim has had to find the other 25 percent. She has been working in accounts with a company in Glasgow and also worked as a waitress to pay the fees of the company who marketed her - First Point USA.

The company basically lets coaches in the States know who is available and help take care of the red tape.

Kim’s dad added, “Moraig and I tried to convince Kim that it would be a lot easier to study at University in this country and continue to play football here”.

Kim defended her choice like a seasoned pro, “I’ve managed to gain entry into the second best university in the state of South Carolina, the grades I got at school meant that I couldn’t get my course of choice in the universities I wanted to attend here”.

The scholarship and living in America not only means that Kim will be away from her family but also her long term boyfriend Liam who plays football for Craigmark Juniors. The longest she has been away from home up until now is for a fortnight’s holiday.

It was through this particular match of the day that she initially discovered that the scholarships were available, “I found out when I went to America on holiday with my boyfriend and his family and later someone approached Ayr United with more information”.

Former sports captain at Carrick Academy, Kim knows only too well that the elements will also be against her with training three times a day and temperatures regularly topping 100F.

Kim received several offers but the decisive factor in her choosing South Carolina was that the football coach there is from Edinburgh and he at least will understand her accent.

Her parents mused, “Neither myself or Moraig are sporty and I don’t even like football so I don’t know where she gets her passion for the game from, Kim always played football with the boys when she was younger and was a bit of a tomboy”, said Colin.

Unlike our university courses here, Kim has to fly out in August for pre-season training before her course gets underway in September, she has even been issued with training regime to keep her in shape before she arrives. Combining her undoubted appetite for football with tackling an academic course means that Kim is definitely a future star, if not on the football field then in the business field.