Rovers Ladies boss Gemma Donnelly pays tribute to NHS heroes

Rovers Ladies boss Gemma Donnelly pays tribute to NHS heroes

Ladies manager Gemma Donnelly has paid tribute to the NHS heroes currently tackling the Coronavirus outbreak – a number of which represent Rovers.

The Rovers boss says she has nothing but admiration for those on the frontline fighting the virus, but was pleased to report that everyone in the group was remaining upbeat, despite the challenging circumstances.

“I’m getting on with some work at home, I’m keeping in touch with the players and staff, just trying to keep busy,” Donnelly told iFollow Rovers.“It’s obviously quite frustrating, but equally I’m glad to be in good health and so are the players. We have a number of key workers involved in the Ladies team. People that work in hospitals. So I’ve been checking in with those people. They’re obviously doing a super important job out there, but everyone seems in high spirits or as well as they can be given this strange and surreal time.”

“They’re working away and whilst we’re complaining about being locked up in the house, these people are going out to work and supporting the nation and getting us through these incredibly difficult times and putting their own lives at risk as well.”

Donnelly says the lockdown restrictions have posed an unprecedented set of challenges she never thought she would encounter in her managerial career – not least regarding communicating with her staff and players – but she has tried to use this period productively.

“It’s been a challenging time, but it’s also been good to find other methods of communication,” she added. “We’re always so strapped for time. We’re like ships that pass in the night, between the staff and the Ladies, so Zoom has ultimately been the most useful tool.

“I’ve been able to see everybody, so we’ve had regular team meetings, with both players and staff, lots of phone calls, group messages and, more than ever, we’ve been investing time into making it a little bit more personable and actually talking to people. There’s been a lot of planning that’s gone on, probably more than there ever has been, so there’s been some real positives within this situation.”