The Women's Football Diary: Maz Pacheco

Oct 02, 2020, 06:00 AM

Alasdair Hooper hosts the fourth episode of The Women's Football Diary with West Ham United defender Maz Pacheco.

The USA scholarship system has long been a huge draw for promising women’s footballers in this country – but Pacheco did things her own way.
 
Eleven days after signing for West Ham in the summer, the left-back graduated from Sheffield University with a law degree. That was the culmination of three years of incredibly hard work. 
 
A law degree is no easy feat anyway but it was made much harder by the fact she was playing professionally for Reading in the WSL during those last two years.

But at the heart of that dedication, other than obviously wanting it for herself and her family, was to prove to other players that you didn’t have to go the States to get an education and play football.
 
Pacheco herself even turned down a scholarship at Harvard in order to pursue her career at home.

Ultimately that decision also shows the pull power the WSL has in this country – not only is the league attracting players from abroad now, but it is also keeping players here.

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Credits

Image credit: With thanks to Forte Sports Management

Music: Dan Henig