Hibs Ladies star scores US scholarship

But it was not the SPL stars which brought coaches all the way from the US recently – it was a 19-year-old girl.

Hibs Ladies star Mariel Kaney's skills have earned her a scholarship to the Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina, where she will combine representing its football team with studying for a degree in sports journalism.

The midfielder was able to choose where she wanted to study after receiving a flurry of offers from interested universities.

The former James Gillespie's High pupil first started playing football when she was eight, when she turned out for her primary school's boys team.

When she moved up to secondary, Miss Kaney represented the school for five years and even played at Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium.

When she was 14, Miss Kaney, who lives in Marchmont, signed for the Hibs girls under-15 team and now plays for the club's ladies team.

After leaving school she honed her football skills at Telford College's sports academy and now has three Scotland caps at under-19 level under her belt.

Miss Kaney applied to United Sports USA after being encouraged by a friend but never thought she would get anywhere.

But the talented teenager's CV impressed American coaches so much that she was in demand.

She said: "It was the best decision I made. United Sports USA generated a great deal of interest in me, and I was contacted by several head coaches from America. One even came to Scotland to see me play, which was really flattering.

"Despite having offers to go elsewhere, I chose Francis Marion University because it offered the best fit with my academic ambitions, and I was hugely impressed by the coach.

"It can be quite hard to study and play football and train every day so it's a big bonus to go somewhere that has its focus on football and lets you do it quite easily."

Miss Kaney – who is a Rangers supporter – added that she would find it difficult to start calling football "soccer" when she moves to the US.

Fraser Gibson, managing director of United Sports USA, said: "Having assessed Mariel as a football player, I knew she had the skill and athletic ability to play at the highest level of college soccer in the States.

"We had a tremendous amount of interest in Mariel. Indeed, we had an offer to fly her to one university in America to see their facilities, and another university sent their head coach to Edinburgh to meet Mariel and watch her play for Hibs Ladies in a successful cup victory against Hutchison Vale ladies.

"Francis Marion is an outstanding university, both athletically and academically."