Monday, July 6th, 2016
I woke up at 4:47 am, thirteen minutes before my alarm. My brain had apparently decided that sleep was optional when you were about to manage another human being for the first time in your life.
I'd stacked shelves at a convenience store. I'd coached kids at Moss Side. I'd survived five weeks at a Premier League academy. But I'd never had a subordinate. Never had someone whose career, whose development, whose daily experience would be shaped by my decisions.
The weight of that hit me somewhere around 5:15 am while I was staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, wondering if I looked like someone who could manage people.
I didn't.
Emma had texted me at midnight: "Stop panicking. She's a professional. You're a professional. Just don't be weird."
Too late for that.
I arrived at Copers Cope at 7:30 am. Sarah wasn't due until 9 am, but I needed time to prepare. To organize. To have a minor breakdown in private.
