There’s little evidence required when it comes to assessing Jess Camwell’s commitment to her football career.
Camwell makes a round trip of almost four hours from her home in Peterborough four times a week to train and play for Derby County.
It’s a big commitment, long hours in the car especially, but she really wouldn’t have it any other way when it comes to fulfilling her passion.
It’s abundantly clear from a 20-minute chat at Moor Farm prior to another midweek training session that football means a considerable amount to her.
Camwell is fortunate that her family and boyfriend, Kyall-Jay, are just as dedicated as she is and they’re with her every step of the way too. Literally!
She never makes the journey on her own for training during the week. She describes it as a long and lonely drive so having company, normally her mum or Kyall (as she calls him rather than his full name) join her and it’s something Camwell is incredibly grateful for.
While she trains, they’ll either wait on site at Moor Farm or head to the local shops to kill a bit of time. If that isn’t enough, her parents and Kyall make sure they attend every game too, home and away, to offer their support.
She describes her dad as her worst critic and her mum as the one who will sugarcoat things and, no matter what the result or performance, will tell her she was amazing and the best player on the pitch!
When asked, she hopes they’re proud of her and what she’s achieved so far. That’s not really up for debate though; she knows deep down that they are.
After another two-hour drive from home to Derbyshire, she walks into the media room full of life and ready to discuss a variety of topics. She’s relaxed and engaging, aided by compliments for her interview on BBC Radio Derby a few days beforehand.
First off, though, we discuss the ‘slog’ of a journey she makes several times a week. Let’s not forget, the Ewes are not professional players and those who believe they are paid huge sums of money for the privilege are gravely mistaken. This is about doing it for their love of the game, not finance.
Camwell explained: “It is roughly just under two hours coming from Peterborough and I do that for our training sessions and games.
“It is a big commitment and I hope it shows how much I love playing football. It’s something I am willing to do to show how much I care.
“I get that people will read this and feel it is a big effort to do that so many times a week, but when it is something you want to do - it doesn’t really matter, does it? People do it for work when they love their job and this is no different for me.”
Camwell recently turned 20 but displays a wise head on very young shoulders.
You would expect for someone who has only recently finished their teenage years to be following the typical stereotype of having an extremely active and lively social life.
Camwell has forsaken that luxury for football, alongside taking the early steps into a career in digital marketing.
She has just set up her own business and in her own words is ‘learning the ropes’. She’s done many online courses to aid her knowledge and has the bug for it but, crucially, knows she needs to build up her experience and must balance that alongside her football commitments.
But she isn’t one to complain. She isn’t looking for sympathy either. She just sees the travelling as part of her life.
“It certainly takes up a lot of time in the evenings,” she laughed. “All I would be doing, really, is sitting at home and watching TV so I am not complaining about it!
“There’s no harm going and enjoying yourself, like someone spending their evening with friends, I guess.
“It is tough for the work-life balance, especially when you throw the travelling into the mix. Some people would feel that it is a chore to come here, but it isn’t. It is nice to have that escape from work and day-to-day stuff. It can be a bit of a rush though!
“People do ask why I don’t get a team closer to home, but we have such a good set-up here. I don’t feel the need to look anywhere else.”
What also makes the journey to Derby worthwhile is the connection and relationship the Ewes boast in their dressing room.
There’s a real closeness to the group and walking into the environment that has been created is one that makes Camwell feel comfortable and at home.
“It helps that we have such a good and close-knit group,” she said.
“A lot of people don’t realise that, even with new signings, what we have here is really good and it makes it easy for the new players to settle in and gel. It is a perfect dressing room.”
It helps, too, that she has a familiar friend in midfielder Molly Sutherland in the squad.
They’ve been friends for around ten years, having played together at Cambridge United and Leicester City, and Camwell can take some credit for helping her seal her move to Derby last summer.
Sutherland enjoyed an excellent first year with Derby and claimed the Young Player of the Year award - as well as a reminder from Camwell who she owes it all to!
“I’ve known Molly for a long time and after she finished a year in America to go to University in Nottingham, I said I would ask Sam if she could come on trial,” Camwell explained.
“I suggested it and soon afterwards she got signed up! It is nice to have someone here to make it feel like home. We can build relationships, but it is nice there’s someone else here who knows me well.”
Camwell is now in her second full season with the Ewes after arriving from Leicester City in early 2022.
She is an attacking midfielder by trade but can play in a variety of positions and entered the current campaign with just over 30 appearances to her name for the club.
Camwell joined Derby from Leicester City on a dual-registration basis in the 2021/22 season and got her first regular run of senior football minutes after making a handful of appearances for the Foxes’ first team.
She played on a few occasions in the Women's Championship as Leicester made the step-up to the Super League as champions in 2020/21, but it left her chances of regular action limited so the temporary move to Derby made perfect sense.
Once the 2021/22 campaign concluded, Camwell felt she had reached the stage where she needed to make a decision on her future.
She was of the belief that playing match minutes in a senior environment would be more beneficial than returning to Leicester and continuing to play at youth level or sitting on the bench for the first team.
When Derby came calling again, she needed little convincing to sign on a permanent basis for the 2022/23 campaign - even if it meant dropping down to tier three.
“I enjoyed being in the first team set-up and getting regular minutes,” she recalled. “Once the season had come to an end, I wanted to stay.
“I wanted to be part of the team here because there was such a good vibe and I knew it was somewhere that would help me develop more than playing in the Development Team at Leicester.
“It was definitely a big sell to be getting first team football. I was at the same stage that a lot of players get to where you have a real desire to play week-in-week-out, rather than just being another body at a so-called big team. I wanted to be playing football and for something that meant something.”
After playing her part in the Ewes’ fourth place finish last term under Sam Griffiths, Camwell was quick to sign up for the current campaign back in the summer.
“I’ve loved it here so far and I think every season has got better and better,” she said when asked to review her time with Derby so far. “We feel respected by the main club and it’s amazing that we’re all under one umbrella now.
“I know we’ve not had the best start to the season here, but we know what we are capable of as a group. We certainly have the potential to get ourselves on a good run of form.
“We finished fourth last year and that was really good. The top three teams in this league are on a different level so to be the best of the rest, if you like, shows what we’re about.”
The 2022/23 season saw Derby reduce the size and average age of their squad considerably.
Camwell was one of the young guns to join the group and she feels the innocence of youth played its part in the side achieving a top four place behind the division’s big hitters.
She knows that resting on their laurels is simply not an option for the squad, not that anyone would be adopting that sort of mentality anyway given the standards that are driven by the coaching staff and senior players.
“We had a young team last year and I think we rose to the challenge,” Camwell admitted. “Sam said that we didn’t expect it last year, so we’re pleased with what we achieved - but we want to do more.
“After such a good achievement, we know the challenge is to kick on again. The top teams and those around us are only going to get better, so it’s down to us to do the same. We need to match it.
“In our first game this season, although we lost against Wolves, I think it showed that the gap is getting smaller. Wolves are a very good team but we pushed them all the way. When we play against those sides and do well, it is a reminder of how good we can be. If we can do that on a consistent basis, then we can have a very good season.”
She added: “We have to bring everything together and prove what we can do. We want to challenge at the top end of the league.”
Last season was Camwell’s first as a regular member of a senior squad in terms of getting match minutes throughout the campaign and it was clearly an enjoyable experience for her.
With a year’s worth of understanding and know-how under her belt, what is her target this time around?
“I want to keep developing,” she immediately answered. “I think I’ve improved as a player with every year and now I just want to kick on and really make an impact on the side. I want to prove to everyone what I can do.
“I contributed with goals myself last season and played my part in ones that we scored as well. I need to do it more and on a consistent basis.”
Camwell describes linking up with Derby on a dual registration from Leicester and spending a period of time learning about the demands of first team football in tier three as an eye-opening experience.
Looking back, she knows she was something of a slow burner. Seldom do youngsters hit the ground running and maintain that level and Camwell feels she’s in the category of being a player than needed time to adapt to new surroundings before showcasing her talent.
“When I first came in on a dual-registration basis, I don’t think I scored or assisted many goals,” she recalled.
“The transition to first team football was such a big one for me and it probably took around six months to realise what I needed to do and adapt.
“When I signed permanently for last season, I think I eased my way into things and contributed with goals and assists and really got stuck in. I hope to do more of the same this year and get my numbers up.
“It was a bit of an eye-opener for me when I got my first taste of senior football. I wasn’t playing kids football, it was Under-23s, but there was still a massive difference. A lot of people don’t realise it can be a big jump.”
On reflection, what does Camwell feel was the steepest learning curve?
She said: “The physicality side of things is massive, but also the quality of every single player is different.
“It is something that you can’t explain until you’re in that situation. People can tell you about it, but it is only when you experience it first-hand that you see the difference.
“I quickly learned that if you don’t get stuck in, games can pass you by. It became apparent to me you need to get involved in the match and try to make things happen, rather than waiting for your moment and popping up here and there.
“It made me take note that if you don’t do that, you can very quickly be out of the team or even the squad. It can be unforgiving, but it is senior football and you need to do your job to stay in the side.”
Camwell admits she felt settled last season but certainly not to the degree she was comfortable or relaxed on the pitch.
With competition for places strong, she knows that there’s always someone on the bench or out of the squad ready and fired up to take your place - no matter who you are.
“You always know you can be better and that someone is ready to take your place, but I felt more accustomed to the level as last season went on,” she said. “I think I grew into being comfortable and knowing I could fit in.”
From her time with Derby so far, one moment stands out above the rest.
“The best experience so far for me was playing at Pride Park Stadium in front of over 5,000 fans,” she said.
“The big crowd - a record crowd for the fixture - the music being played before kick-off and stuff like that was amazing.
“I am not a Derby County fan but I know more than enough about the rivalry with Forest. When I was at Leicester we had some big games at the club’s main stadium but I wasn’t on the pitch so you don’t feel part of it.
“To be in the main team in a big game was a nice feeling. I was on the bench the year before against Forest so it was nice to see what it was like, so when I was starting last year I was buzzing about it.”
To get her to where she is today, Camwell has enjoyed a journey that she looks back on with a great deal of fondness when it comes to football.
She started off by playing for her local village team before eventually turning out for local teams Cambridge United and Peterborough United.
The next step saw her progress through Leicester City’s Academy and into their first team set-up before linking up with the Ewes in early 2022.
“I started off by just playing for my local team in our village,” she recalled. “Fifteen years ago there weren’t many girls’ teams that I could play for. I played football with my brother, and I was better than him and a little bit better than I thought I was!
“As is the case with most girls playing football now, I played for a boys’ team too when I was younger. It was great doing it because I got to experience playing the game on a different side but at the same time playing with girls that share the same passion is great.
“Although I don’t remember it, I am told I’ve been playing football from a very young age! I know that I had a ball at my feet a lot and I used to play outside with my brother.
“Going back to my journey, the first club I played for was Cambridge United. That was the biggest team at the time in terms of locality.
“After my time there, I went to Peterborough as that was another step up for me. At first, they didn’t have a team. From there, I had trials at Leicester City. I was with them from when I was about nine or ten until I was 18.”
Whilst it has been an enjoyable journey so far, was there a stage when Camwell began to take her football more seriously?
“I’ve always enjoyed my football but when I went to Peterborough is the stage when I really got into it,” she said. “At Cambridge it was a good level, but it was a little bit chilled out because we were only seven or eight years old at the time.
“When I went to Peterborough, even though I was still young, it started to get a bit more serious and I was really enjoying it. We were playing at a good level and against teams from across the country.
“At Leicester, I began to feel like it was something I wanted to pursue. When I got to Under-16s level there it kind of made me realise there was the potential to become a professional or semi-professional footballer.
“Football, for me, gives you the opportunity to forget about everything else that is going on in your life. I am just happy whenever I am playing football. I don’t find happiness to that extent anywhere else.
“The bigger and more important the football has been, especially the intensity of it, I’ve found I’ve enjoyed it more. I know people can sort of lose their passion for something they enjoy doing when it becomes more serious. I like the pressure that comes with it, it is good to have something to push you to perform. I feel like I prefer it more like that!”
Camwell admits she wasn’t a big fan of watching football while she was growing up, it bored her too easily and she would much rather be playing and being active than sitting on the sofa.
She is a Liverpool fan, although how she came to follow the Reds she has no idea, and did go to watch Peterborough United occasionally as a youngster, but she wasn’t exactly banging the door down to go every week.
As she’s got older, she does watch more football and does so more than anything to educate herself and learn more about the game.
She’s also thrilled with the progress of the Women’s game on a wider scale for both club and country, although there’s plenty more to be achieved, and believes the youth of today have plenty to aspire to.
She said: “When I was younger there was never Women’s football to look at and aspire to, so it means a lot to see the direction the game is going in.
“The youngsters of today have so many great role models and none more so than the England Women’s side that won the European Championships and got to the World Cup Final.”
The recorder goes off and that’s Camwell’s time in the hotseat done and, just like that, she shoots off to get her boots on and take in another session.
Her commitment is admirable and, with an attitude like the one she displays on and off the field, a promising career in the game is the very least she deserves.
Interview and words: Tom Loakes
