- We interview Reading FC striker Nat Cowell
- At weekends she’s banging in goals for the first team
- By day, she’s a Deputy Headteacher
- Select has just renewed sponsorship of Reading FC Women's first team
- Company has also increased its investment in Reading FC Community Trust
(Nat in action, credit Andy Wicks Photography)
A footballer with Reading FC Women’s first team has revealed how she juggles life as the club’s top scorer with her day job as a Deputy Headteacher.
Nat Cowell joined the club at the beginning of the 2025/26 season, taking up a role as a player-coach.
At weekends, she plays in front of hundreds of fans in the Southern Region Women's Football League Premier Division - the fifth tier of the women’s pyramid.
But away from football, she’s busy mentoring young people in her role as a Deputy Headteacher on the senior side of the independent LVS Ascot school in Berkshire.
(Nat Cowell, above, in teacher mode)
There are challenges on both sides, but 33-year-old Nat says she relishes the opportunities her twin roles offer.
She reveals: “How do I manage two demanding jobs? There’s a lot of time management involved, with late nights and early mornings.
“The main thing for me is that I love playing football - it’s my outlet - and I work hard to make sure I’m able to continue doing that. Very rarely do I miss training, unless there’s an important parents’ evening, and I’m grateful that the school is so supportive.
“We’ve had a few kids come along and watch our Reading games, too, which is really cool.
“In fact, we recently drew a team in the FA Cup that was actually managed by the father of one of my year 11 pupils. I came off the bench, scored two goals, and we won five nil.”
(Credit Andy Wicks Photography)
Nat grew up in Bracknell, Berks, and originally joined Reading FC’s academy as a talented 14 year old. Two years later she was called up to the Women’s first team when the side was still flying high in the Women’s Premier League National Division.
She even played with Kelly Chambers, who went on to manage Reading in the Women's Super League.
But it’s at this point that her football career slowed slightly as she went to university, studying Sport & Exercise Science at the University of Chichester before qualifying as a PE Teacher.
It’s at that point she joined LVS Ascot school - and also reignited her sporting ambitions, joining Maidenhead in the Women's National League before ultimately making her way to Reading.
Was she always a natural striker?
(Credit Andy Wicks Photography)
Nat laughs: “No! I played centre midfield, right back, centre back. And then one game, the manager was like, ‘Nat, you need to go up front because you're strong’. I scored a header and I’ve never looked back. Since then, I’ve always played up front.”
As a player-coach at Reading, Nat uses the skills she’s gained in education to act as a liaison between staff and players and also has a say in training and selection. She’s also Assistant Manager of the Under-16s Girls team.
Life is action packed; she trains with the first team twice a week, on the days she’s not training she works with a personal trainer, on Saturdays she’s with the Under-16s, and then it’s game day on a Sunday.
Besides all of that, she also coaches football at her school - and used to be head of the Boys Under-18s.
(Credit Andy Wicks Photography)
She says: “The boys always treat me with the utmost respect and I love coaching the lads as well as girls. I think that when they see you pinging a ball in training they’re like, ‘Right, we’re going to listen to you, because we can see that you can do it!’.
“The culture around the women’s game has also shifted radically in recent years, particularly after England’s success in the Euros in 2022.
“In school, girls want to play football - we’ve just started football scholarships at LVS. Give them the confidence to play and they won’t think twice about getting stuck in and getting muddy.
“For me, I actually prefer watching the women’s game as it’s more technical, with less in the way of long throw-ins and rolling around on the floor!”
Reading currently sit mid-table in the Southern Region Women's Football League and now fall under the stewardship of the Reading FC Community Trust.
They play their home games at the Arbour Park Stadium in Slough.
And if you fancy going along to support the team, you can pre-book tickets.
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