‘Uphill battle’: Wales coach hikes mountain to announce squad for Women’s Euros

Seeking to scale new heights at the Women’s European Championship, Wales coach Rhian Wilkinson hiked to the summit of the principality’s highest peak on Thursday to announce her squad for the tournament.

Wilkinson, a Canadian whose mother was born in Wales, woke up early before embarking on the 3,560-foot (1,085-meter) ascent up Snowdon – or Yr Wyddfa, to give the mountain range’s Welsh name.

While she went on foot, the assembled media took a small train at 7 a.m. local time to get to the summit.

Wilkinson has guided Wales to its first major soccer championship and has equated the feat to climbing a mountain.

“It was always going to be an uphill battle, one where we were going to have little setbacks,” Wilkinson said at a news conference atop Snowdon. “What is mountaineering? Exactly that – a challenge of steeper parts and flattening off. All these parallels you can make.

“So, we have used this mountain as an image throughout the campaign. And equally, as we move toward the Euros, we have started talking more about the summit, the Everest part of it. That something is impossible until it isn’t. And we are there.”

Yr Wyddfa is close to Wilkinson’s heart. She said her parents spent their honeymoon there, she hiked there as a kid and a ceremony was held there after the death of her father.

Sophie Ingle, 33, was named in the squad despite being out since September with anterior cruciate ligament damage. She has 141 caps and led Wales 83 times from 2015-24 before stepping down as captain.