News from the USA – ex-Connah’s Quay Nomads defender Sienna Strapp

While one North Wales women’s football team is enjoying high profile attention – but not great results – in the USA, a girl from Flintshire is also in the States developing her sporting career.

Sienna Strapp, 19, from Hawarden, made quite a name for herself as a defender with Connah’s Quay Nomads for two seasons before joining Stoke City in summer 2023.

Now the teenage talent has flown to America, where she is studying for a degree in sports psychology while being a full time athlete at LIFE UNIVERSITY in Georgia.

Grassroots North Wales caught up with Sienna to check on her progress.

Firstly, how did your time at Stoke City go last season?

My time at Stoke City was short but sweet, I absolutely loved it, I was definitely able to develop and grow even more as a player, the facilities and all-round experience was more than anything I could have dreamed of.

Has it benefited your future career?

I really feel it has, making that move completely chucked me out of my comfort zone. The standard was higher which made me push myself even further.

Where in the USA have you gone to?

I have moved to Marietta, Georgia and go to LIFE UNIVERSITY. It’s about 20 minutes from Atlanta. I flew out there on July 9.

For how long will you be there? and what does it entail?

I am here for a total of 4 years. It entails being a student athlete. I am here doing a degree in sports psychology while being a full time athlete training every day, and strength and conditioning 3 times a week.

How has it been adjusting to the time difference and the climate? I believe it is much hotter over there than over here?

It’s so, so much hotter, and very humid. Our training is 9-11 in the mornings and it’s about 30° by the end of training. The time difference was hard the first week and a half but I do really feel like I’ve settled in well and I have been able to surround myself with a very big group of internationals who are all in the same position as I am.

How often are you in touch with people back home? Apart from the family, are you staying in contact with any of the North Wales football crew?

I speak to home every day, I love being able to tell them everything I’ve been up to in the day. And speaking to them also lets me have a little escape from here. They all enjoy hearing about how much I’m loving it out here.
I would say I’m definitely still in contact with a couple of the girls and I’m still planning on keeping up with how all the girls are doing regardless of what clubs they are at now.

What have you been working on so far in the USA? Have you played in any matches yet?

My first pre-season game is 6 August, so these past weeks we have only been training and getting to know the other freshman girls before the rest of the team join us here on the 29th.
I’ve been really focusing on trying to get used to the heat during training ready for pre-season because once it does it will be 4 months of football training every day with 3 strength and conditioning sessions a week, with then 2-3 games a week.

What do you hope to achieve at the end of it all?

I want to come home and play at an even higher level than I was at Stoke. And even potentially playing for Wales if I work hard enough. I also want to be working with big Premier League clubs, working with players to help see how your mind affects how you play.

When will you be able to visit home next?

My flight home is booked for just before Christmas. And then I’ll be back for a month. After my month at home I’m then back in America January to June.

Will you be keeping in touch with North Wales football this season? We are due to kick off very soon

Definitely, I will be keeping track! I still kept track while at Stoke. I’m hoping everyone does as well as they can.

Have you been following the Wales women’s team? Do you think they can qualify for the 2025 Euros?

I have been keeping in touch. Their past two games they have done well. And I really do hope they qualify not only for the players, but for the young girls that also follow along and look up to them as role models. It will push more girls in Wales to play football I hope!!

SIENNA STRAPP – FOOTBALL BACKGROUND

• Born on April 14, 2005, Sienna started playing football around the age of 13/14 through her high school team.

• Before the school team she had never thought football was an option – she was a swimmer. While playing with the school she had made the decision to join Northop Hall Girls and Ladies as a couple of the other girls played there.

• Sienna was with the Hall though U16s into the start of a U19s team. She represented Hall Under-17s in the 2019/20 and 2020/21 Welsh Girls Cup competitions.

• While playing for the U19s, she also turned out for the women’s team at the club allowing her to gain experience in tougher games.

• In the early part of 2021-22 she netted three goals in five games for Hall’s women’s team and represented the U19’s twice.

• Then in November of 2021 Sienna moved on to Connah’s Quay Nomads, where she represented the women’s and under-19s.
  She featured in 15 games for Nomads firsts that season and won the NEWFA Challenge Cup.

• In 2022-23, Sienna made 19 first team appearances for Nomads, scoring twice and earning another NEWFA Challenge Cup winners’ medal, as well as helping her team finish runners-up in the Tier 2 Genero Adran North.

• During her time with Nomads, as a Coleg Cambria student she had the opportunity to represent Wales in the Welsh Colleges squad against England in Cardiff.

• Summer 2023 saw Sienna signed up by FA Women’s National League North Tier 3 club Stoke City.

• In summer 2024, she began an exciting new sporting adventure in America.