Pamela Scott

Pamela Scott is an international soccer manager and former player at both domestic & international level in the Commonwealth of Baker Park. She is currently the Manager of the Banijan National Team after having served in the same role in Farfadillis and Baker Park. She led Banija to the World Cup 93 and World Cup 94 titles and is a member of the World Cup Hall of Fame representing Baker Park.

Early Life

Pamela Jean Scott was born in Lima, Baker Park, the oldest of three children to Penny (Kaspriski) and Mark Scott; her parents relocated to New Bremen when she was 3, where her siblings Jason & Allan were born. Approximately a decade later they moved again, this time to southern suburban area of Ezriquay. She'd played recreational soccer in New Bremen from age 7 and joining the local community league after the move to Ezra brought her to the attention of youth scouts from Ellesmere Woods Ladies FC, who discussed a part-time academy spot with her parents. The $90 per week stipend (for 7 hours of training plus an additional $15 for a match appearance) was more than enough to cover the cost of transportation to and from Ellesmere Borough.

Playing Career

Scott chose to forgo a full time academy contract and tried out for the Hillsdale High School girls team as a freshman; she was a starter in midfield for the 9th grade side then played a key reserve role for the varsity as a sophomore. She earned a starting position as a junior, where her play helped the team to a 15-2-3 season and a spot on the First All-Star Team of the Ezra Interscholastic Athletic Association; she was a repeat honoree the next year as Hillside advanced to the state semi-finals.

She enrolled at the University of Osheana, winning a varsity letter all four years and co-captaining a conference championship squad as a senior, which also brought 2nd Team All-Conference recognition. She received a B.S. degree in Applied Science and signed a 4 year professional contract with Hamilton Wanderers Ladies soon after (turning down an offer from Ellesmere Woods). Scott made 112 appearances for Wanderers, which included being part of the club's National League winning side in 1993.

International Career

During her high school and college career, Scott was invited to be a part of women's youth team squads at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level, winning caps on 12 occasions while scoring 2 goals; at Hamilton she was part of the senior Women's National Team player pool, earning 20 international caps with 4 goals.

Coaching Career

Scott began to think about a post-soccer life ahead of the expiration of her contract; she wanted to experience living outside of the Commonwealth and applied to enter a graduate school program overseas to take the first step. Upon being awarded a Masters degree in Sport Science, she was offered a position as an assistant college coach, which would be the first of three separate jobs over an eight year span.

Her return to Baker Park was facilitated by applying for the Head Coach position at Northern Baker Park State University in Lima—her mother's alma mater—and being offered the job ahead of the 2004 season. It was during this time that Scott became known for her innovative tactics and ability to fit players into roles that utilized individual strengths while covering up less developed skills. Her rookie campaign earned Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors for leading the Lady Lions to a third place finish. Another strong season that resulted in a berth in the UAC National tournament brought the first of her two National Coach of the Year awards, setting the foundation for the success that followed.

With 15 letter winners returning, NBP was a heavy favorite to win the WAC crown and wasted little time establishing dominance; 16 straight victories saw them rise to the #1 ranking and only a draw prevented the side from a perfect season as they won the UAC National Championship. They followed up with a second straight unbeaten campaign (two draws but no losses) to defend their title, earning Scott her second National Coach of the Year prize.

Professional Management

Westwood Sprites Ladies offered Scott a deal to make her the highest paid manager in Women's National League history—4 years for $750,000 total—to bring the club the success on the ladies side that the men's team had enjoyed. It proved to be money well spent as Sprites claimed the 1st Division title—their first--then captured another two years later.

International Management

David Carlson made Scott his first hire for the Football Association of the Commonwealth in August 2011 when she was named manager of the Women's National Team and Women's Director of Technical Development. Her first match in charge was a 1-1 draw, which was the last of a run of 17 fixtures that saw the WNT win only once (9 defeats and 7 draws in two separate 8 match streaks). In just her 13th match, she became the winningest WNT manager with her 9th win, which was followed by only her second defeat in three years.

Scott, Carlson and Trevor Richmond began to draft the outline of a comprehensive FAC program to re-imagine grass roots player development for aged 5-13 boys and girls; the FAC Development Charter called for the addition of 5,000 new coaches trained in skill and technical instruction over a 4 year period, with an increase in funding for community based youth leagues and intermediate level youth clubs (often known as 'select' or Under-15 'travel' clubs in other nations). This also included increasing the number of adjunct instructors to assist with both these independent clubs as well as professional club academies with limited resources.

Mixed Gender Era

Scott was skeptical about the feasibility of mixed gender international squads when the initial discussion arose following the DiBradini Cup/Under-21 World Championships, where Baker Park faced an all-female side as well as teams consisting of both men & women playing alongside one another. She based most of her concerns on physiological differences and the difficulty of overcoming psychological gender bias; when the decision to was made to use the Under-18 squad as a test of the practicality, she wanted her most experienced age group coach, Jennifer Prescott, to be part of the staff. Before the squad left for Abanhfleft, Scott was sold on concept and not only was the end result a triumph for experimental nature of the squad, it was the beginning of seeing the dividends of the Development Charter's impact, as many of the players on the title winning side became a part of what was eventually called the “Golden Generation”

Baptism of Fire

Scott made a strong, impassioned argument to be chosen as the manager of the BPNT squad that would compete in the pre-World Cup tournament, Baptism of Fire 67 which would be co-hosted in Banija and Qasden; her plan of a roster drawn across a wide spectrum of available players of differing levels of experience coupled with the tactical elements that had become standardized throughout the entire National Team structure made the choice an easy one among the entire Technical Department staff. That squad cemented the reputation of several future National Team players as “Pam's regulars”, who she selected time and again over the course of various competitions. Trent Yeomans, Kyle Moyer, Angelique Underwood and Leslie Monaghan figured prominently in several squads led by Scott both in World Cup Qualifying and the Atlantian Oceania Confederation of Football Cup. Losing only their final group stage match having already qualifying for the last 16, BP dispatched Lionsguard, Siovanija & Teusland and Makhnovia for a second time in the competition to advance to the Final, where they faced Beepee; a 4-3 defeat was not seen as a failure, and the overall finish was viewed as another stepping stone for the FAC's building program.

Split Squad Qualifying and AOCAF advancement

For World Cup 81, Richmond and Scott worked in tandem to evaluate as wide a player pool as possible; both took charge of a squad made up of equally balanced numbers of men & women, levels of experience & previous NT caps, and younger generation players to fill in alongside and learn from the veterans. Only a single away loss kept the BPNT from an unbeaten record over the 18 match Qualifying, and for the nation's second straight appearance in the World Cup Finals, Richmond & Scott and their two primary assistants, Shane Newman and Kate Di Marini, combined to make up the staff that led the Commonwealth to their first knockout stage where they lost to South Covello, which would go on to finish Runner-Up to Vilita.

Scott led Baker Park during AOCAF 56 & 57, winning six of eight fixtures over the two tournaments; she was in charge for the National Team's 200th win which came against the Busoga Islands in the final group match in AOCAF 56, and then led BP to the quarterfinals of the following tournament, falling to Equestria. World Cup 82 saw Baker Park drawn into a qualifying group with Nephara, and the same format for squad rotation was brought back. The Cormorants inflicted two of the three defeats BP had over the 18 match schedule but that did not prevent a third consecutive berth in the World Cup Finals; losing in a penalty shootout to Cosumar in the Round of 16 would bring Trevor Richmond's tenure to a close, with Scott assuming the top spot following the regional championship that would be co-hosted in Baker Park with Banija as partners.

Taking advantage of playing in front of enthusiastic home crowds during AOCAF 58, the Commonwealth swept into the Semi Final, where they faced Equestria for the second straight time; 120 minutes could not decide a winner, but the visiting side prevailed in a 4-2 penalty shootout consigning BP to the Third Place match, where they encountered another recent nemesis in Cosumar. This time the side got a win in regulation time to claim the nation's first ever senior national team classified result.

National Team Manager

Scott became the 24th Manager of the Baker Park National Team after Trevor Richmond announced he would step aside to become Sporting Director of the FAC shortly after the end of World Cup 82. Through the World Cup 83 cycle her teams were unbeaten in 26 of the 29 matches played (22 wins, 4 draws) and shortly afterward the FAC announced that they would be bidding along with Cassadaigua's CASE to co-host World Cup 84, which eventually was selected by the NS World Cup Council. The BPNT arranged an extensive program of friendly tours to replicate the preparation that it would miss out on as a co-host not active in qualifying; in choosing to utilize a large player pool while experimenting with lineups and tactical wrinkles, Scott later admitted she completely overthought the situation instead of focusing on building a core squad that could get results in front of supportive crowds.

Following elimination in the Round of 16 in the World Cup, Carlson advised Scott that she needed to take a break from the day to day responsibility of the National Team as well her role as Technical Director, insisting on a minimum 30 day vacation, going so far as to enlist Scott's husband and children to prevail upon her to 'unplug' for awhile.

Move to Farfadillis

Initial Approach

Ichi Tuzzio retired after leading his nation to World Cup glory, leaving the Farfadillis National Team and the governing body--the FFFF--with a huge hole to fill and very few options to begin to address a solution. The ethnic tensions within the nation meant that there would certainly need to be someone from outside to remain above the fray.

Alex Terán, the Farolean President as well as head of the FFFF, considered the landscape of international management in the post WC84 multiverse; with an aging roster that might lack the same motivation now that they were Champions and the loss of the one man who knew all the right buttons to push, who could harness the Farves attacking nature while bringing along a new generation?