FOR most Hearts fans, the past season has been one to forget, but 14-year-old Jambo Gemma Bartie has found solace in pulling on the green of arch-rivals Hibs.
Gemma, from Fernieside, may well have been too busy winning trophies with the all-conquering Hibs Girls under-15 team to pay attention to events at Tynecastle.
In her first season with the club, she established herself as first-choice left-back
and helped Hibs become the best in Britain as they remained unbeaten to lift five trophies.
Just over a year ago, Gemma was playing in a predominantly male football league, turning out for Edinburgh South Colts at under-14 level of the Eastern Region Youth FA.
An impressive personal display during a 3-2 loss against Bonnyrigg Rose in a Paties Road cup final drew attention from a watching Hibs Girls' scout, and Gemma's game has since gone from strength to strength under the tutelage of coach Matty Hunter. She said: "I was advised to go to trials for Hibs before but I didn't do anything about it.
"After that cup final, though, I thought about it, and my dad said it doesn't matter about the team you play for, just the medals, so I just went to see what would happen.
"The scout at the game told me about Hibs and what they'd achieved, and asked if I wanted to go along."
Also a dyed-in-the-wool Hearts fan, father Nick staunchly refuses to holler support for Hibs, instead choosing his words carefully with calls of "Come on the greens!" when watching Gemma.
Gemma herself initially found comfort in wearing maroon to training sessions and under her Hibs jersey on match days but has since settled well into life with her team-mates.
"I've only been with them for a season, but some of the girls have been together for three or four years, so it was quite a settled team. The girls made me feel welcome and it only took me a couple of weeks to settle."
The team, with Gemma, has enjoyed unprecedented success, taking nationwide competitions by storm and climaxing with success in a round-robin tournament at City of Manchester Stadium in which Hibs Girls overcame the champions of Wales and England, Cardiff City and Bedwell Rangers, to assume the title of British Champions.
This capped an already-prolific season in which Hibs had beaten Celtic a week earlier to lift the Scottish Cup at Stirling's Forthbank Stadium with a dramatic last-minute equaliser then victory on penalties.
This had followed a league campaign in which the girls tallied over 200 in the goals for column and zero in games lost.
The Summer Cup saw Hibs again triumph over old adversaries Celtic and a resounding 10-1 victory over Hutchison Vale secured their fifth and final piece of silverware – the League Cup.
Gemma, a fourth year pupil at Liberton High School, cites teamwork and the encouragement of team-mates as the major factors behind Hibs' dominance of the game at their level.
"First of all," says Gemma, "I have to mention our captain, Rebecca (Zoltie] is an amazing player. The goals are spread around the team, and teamwork is the key. When someone scores first against us, everyone speaks up and lifts everyone else's heads and keeps us going.
"That's what happened in the Scottish Cup final (when Zoltie scored a last-minute equaliser to take the game to extra time and, eventually, a penalty shoot-out] and against Bedwell in the British Cup, too, when Ellen Reid scored the winner in the last minute."
Gemma also pointed to Hibs Girls coach Matty Hunter as the reason for her personal performance in a glittering season.
"Matty always encourages you – I think that's really important.
"He knows all the tricks, tells me to push forward all the time and is very tactically aware."
Gemma notched two goals from around 25 appearances last season, and hopes to improve on her good form and go on to attract the interest of the national team coaching staff in the coming season, in which she will advance to under-17 level.
"I'm hoping to carry on where I left off and, in the future, be scouted for Scotland. Obviously, I want to continue to win lots of trophies and achieve even more in the game," she said.
The full article contains 737 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
