A FORMER international footballer from Barnsley is now working on the frontline as a response cop in Wombwell - and her current goal is to keep locals safe.
Ellie Hawcroft, 24, swapped her studs for patrol boots when she joined South Yorkshire Police as a student officer back in February 2023.
While studying at college Ellie was already playing football for Sheffield FC’s first team and the under 21s England Colleges team.
She said: “I was a young kid playing against adults, but I was very strong and a lot of them didn’t like it.
“You had to be headstrong and show you belonged there.”
After showcasing her skills, Ellie wasn’t short of offers from coaches - and she had more than 40 trying to gain her signature.
But she says it was a no-brainer where she wanted to go.
She added: ““It was always my dream to go to America.
“One of my best friends is Esme Morgan, who plays for England.
“She always wanted to go and play for Manchester City, that was her dream, but my dream was always to go and play in America - because of the film Bend It Like Beckham.”
With a love of country music, Ellie chose Nashville, where she studied journalism and broadcast alongside playing football.
She remained there for a year, living in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat when she wasn’t in her football kit, before moving to West Virginia with a full scholarship.
Over the next three years, she completed a business and marketing degree while also training three times a day.
The training paid off, and her team won their league and the whole tournament.
She returned to Barnsley in 2022 and then applied for the police force.
Ellie passed her exams in February this year and has been working as a response officer in Wombwell ever since.
She said: “It’s a lot of hard work but I have a great team around me on my group.
“We all dig in together, it is our little family unit.
“They really are a family away from home.
“Being able to work in the area where I’m from is great.
“I feel like a lot of the time people engage with me because I’m one of them - I speak like them and sound like them.
“I feel like that gets me a lot further in the job.
“I also enjoy getting ‘free’ tickets to the Barnsley match when I’m working at it.”
Ellie, who still plays football for the police’s sports and social club team, is encouraging others to join the force.
She said: ““Just give it a go.
“I think people are probably deterred away from policing because all they see is the bad things, they don’t always see the rewarding side.
“But it has so much to offer, and now I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
