On a Rovers match day, Kirsty Cavanagh is at the forefront as fans, scouts, players and press inundate her desk in the West Stand reception for their match tickets and passes but behind this young women lies a hidden talent!

Amazingly to everyone at Doncaster Rovers as she kept it quiet, Kirsty is a football coach and recently she got the chance to travel to Southern Africa to help coach young children.

Kirsty kept in touch with Rovers via Facebook and told of the plight of the young kids who had only one kit for training and playing.

Despite getting severely bitten by spiders and seeing crocodiles at first hand, Kirsty reached out and touched the life of these underprivileged kids with a passion for football. This touched everyone and the Rovers management set out to kit them up in Rovers colours with a set of the second blue strip to allow them all to have a clean strip to help them develop their skills. Rovers' Community sponsors DHL are going to arrange to get the kit over to Africa which was always the logistical problem but with their worldwide network they can get them out to Zambia.

DoncasterRoversFC.co.uk interviewed Kirsty about her travels in Southern Africa.

So why did you volunteer for this adventure into the unknown?

"I went for a month to Africa, which was on a self funded sports coaching and community programme. I went on the trip alone to prove to myself and others that I wasn't the stereotype clothes and girly girl that I am perceived to be. Even though, before then, I would have screamed at the thought of living in a tent and without luxuries."

What are your links to Rovers?

"I started at Doncaster Rovers in 1998, and did my work experience with Richard and Eric in FitC, back then the community office in Belle Vue was within the sponsors lounge, and the team consisted of them and Sarah only!! I have worked with Doncaster since then, initially in the shop, and then the offices."

"At the start of 2007 in the new stadium I undertook a different job with the Stadium Management Company looking after the scouts, media personnel, players and their guests on the West side of the stadium.

Alongside Doncaster, over the past few years I have spent some time working and coaching with Manchester United Soccer Schools residential, and Doncaster Puma U8 teams. I hope the experiences I had in Africa will help both me and all who I work with next season."

Tell us more about what it was like out there and what did you do?

"I arrived at Johannesburg, and changed to go to Livingstone in Zambia, which is where I spent the majority of my trip with the Happy Africa charity foundation. The foundation supported community based ventures, (there is little or no government funding for clinics, schools, or sports things in Zambia). I taught in two schools, Nakatindi and Mwandi with children from ages 5-19, both girls and boys and mostly football, but also team games and tug of war!"

"I also coached and helped to manage a number of age groups of the Mwandi Ajax community team. The team played in the equivalent of the junior leagues, and on the second or third training session of the first week it suddenly dawned on me that the children were wearing the same clothes from the first session. This continued when we went to play in a league game the following week, and when I saw them in school."

"The people from the teams started at under 10's and went to under 18's. The pitches were all sand, and no children played in boots when they were playing in a game. One of the pitches that I arrived at, was the best in town, and I ended up pulling a groin muscle twice due to the bumpiness and length of the grass!"

Was it hard being a outsider and a women coaching football in Zambia?

"At first, it was very hard to adapt. It was a rare occurrence for a white person, let alone a girl coming to teach football to be within the villages and "compounds" of the town. On one of my first outreach sessions nearly two hundred children appeared and tried to join in the session. I soon realised it wouldn't be as easy as the normal 3v3 or drills I had become happy delivering in England!!"

What amazed you the most and what was it like for the children you coached?

"Many of the children would walk for up to two hours to go to school or take part in outreach and sports PE. It did not seem an issue for them nor the heat which one day reached 109 degrees in the afternoon.

I had to work hard to gain the young people and children's trust and respect. It was very hard to get females involved in sport and attending outreach sessions out there. But I managed with the help of some dutch coaches to get a few afternoon sessions called 'Come Play Girl', which were a great success."

"What touched me most about the children was how happy, they all were without the material things. The best thing that I did whilst I was there was spend time talking to them about the Rooney's, Ronaldo's, but most importantly teaching them their new favourite players like Sam Hird, Richie Wellens and Dean Sheils of their new favourite team, Rovers!"

So what next?

"Whilst away I kept in touch with the people back home, and it was agreed that we could continue to help the team when I came back home.

Going to tell the boys giving them of the kit I took with me was quite emotional. They were so proud of the new shirts, and Im looking forward to keeping in touch with their achievements and learning them lots more about the championship, and not just the Arsenal's, Chelsea's and Manchester United's of England."

DHL payed for the transportation of the kit to Africa

David Morris, Doncaster Rovers Chief Executive commented: 

"We are committed to be our local community but also we want to be part of the World football community, helping children who are less fortunate enjoy football and the passion of it. Kirsty has been connected to Rovers for many years and we wanted to help her to help these children and show that there is more to British football than the negatives that are often portrayed in the media. We hope that a small gift from uscan mean the world to someone who has no football shirt and give them pride as they play football"