By
Judith Addleson
Could not seem to link this properly but it's from www.jewishtelegraph.com in the Sports section
Family affair as Lee coaches wife's team
STRONG SQUAD: The British women's football Maccabiah squad, with Aimee Cohen (bottom row, third from right) and captain Danielle Bassin (top row, fourth from left)
FOR the first time ever, there will be a British adult women's football team at the Maccabiah Games.
And assistant manager Lee Bassin insists the team have "most definitely" got a chance of winning some medals.
The Liverpool-born coach said: "We've certainly got the talent, we just need the rub of the green here and there and to stay injury free.
"We've got a great spine for the team - the goalkeeper plays for Brentford Women and another girl has been involved with Spurs youth."
And it will be a family affair as Lee's wife, Danielle, will be captaining the team.
In fact, it was through Danielle that Lee first became involved with women's football three years ago.
"I got involved with coaching Hampstead Women's football team and met Brad Solomon, the manager," said 30-year-old Lee.
"It was Brad who came to the attention of the GB Maccabiah committee after helping the team win promotion in the Greater London Women's Football League.
"We held trials in the summer of 2008, although we eventually had to cast our net a bit further because of players needing replacing.
"We've also had a variety of help during the training sessions from various people, including former Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd, who helped with sprints and skills.
"We have had help from Elliott Smith, a qualified coach who used to work with Luton Town."
The British women's football Maccabiah squad manager Brad Solomon, assistant coach Elliot Smith and assistant manager Lee Bassin
One member of the squad, 24-year-old Aimee Cohen, is from Cheadle.
Coming from a big Manchester United family, Aimee began playing football "as soon as I was old enough to walk," she said.
"As a little girl, my charming brothers would put me in goal in our back garden and blast the ball at me.
"It wasn't long before I started to enjoy playing and mastered the art of being able to side-foot the ball and not just toe-boot it."
Aimee also plays for Hampstead Women and, when first joining the team, admitted that she was "pleasantly surprised to see that there were some very good ladies footballers".
"I am most looking forward to putting on my Maccabiah GB shirt and scoring a free kick from 25 yards to send us through to the final with true Beckham finesse."
The squad jets out on Tuesday.
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.