Chelsea forward Aggie Beever-Jones on growing up by the sea on the Isle of Wight, paddleboarding with Wieke Kaptein and why her film camera goes everywhere.
“Ilovethesea,butI’mpetrifiedofwhat’sunderneathme!”Aggie Beever-Jones
Aggie Beever-Jones is part of a Chelsea attack that’s scored 28 goals this season, and she’ll be hoping to add to it in this weekend’s title showdown with Manchester City. Away from the pitch, the England forward swaps the noise of London for the sea, a paddleboard and a well-travelled film camera.
I spent a lot of my childhood growing up in the Isle of Wight, so I find being around the sea very calming. It's almost like it stops all the busy noise of football and the busy life of London. It's somewhere I can kind of go and it's my safe space away from it all. I have some family who live there, so I can just switch off from football. There’s obviously no real team there or anything, so to get to go spend time with my little niece and my brother, have a simple nice coffee by the sea, I just feel very calm. It just takes you back to the simple things in life. I'm not a massive fan of technology and all that kind of AI stuff. I'm quite relaxed with nature. It's a lot more re-centring for me, you can switch off and get away from it all.
Picking my favourite beach is difficult. I've been quite lucky as I’ve been very well travelled, I recently just went to Malibu and I loved it around Point Dume. I just sat up on this little staircase from which you could just watch the surfers. I mean, it's not a great beach to sit on, but it was lovely to just people watch, that kind of vibe. But again, I'd probably just say a beach in the Isle of Wight like Colwell Bay is absolutely beautiful. I don't need much, just the sea and I'm happy. I'd love to do the North Coast 500 in Scotland, just get a camper van and beach hop.
I love paddleboarding and surfing too, all that kind of stuff. I paddle board on the Thames every so often when I can, which is nice. I use my mum's paddle board. Me and Wieke [Kaptein] have a good time, we go on little paddle boards together, so it's sweet. Anything by the water, I'm happy. Though it's weird because I love the sea, but I'm petrified of what's underneath me! So, if you were to ask, when we go to Australia, I will not be going in the sea by any means. Unless it's like a controlled shark net? I'm not doing it.
I've always loved photography and I recently purchased my first camera, a proper digital one! I've been using a little film Olympus, OM10, a second-hand one that I got from the Isle of Wight, from this cute little camera shop. So I think I'll probably get a bit of a higher quality one… Hopefully, I can take some better pictures. It’s funny, everyone who knows me, knows I always take the camera with me, and it's quite, well, it's not ideal because it's a big camera case, and everyone says, "Oh, you and your bloody camera!” But I love it. I feel like you get to capture some really nice moments, and it's just easy. For me, I love the whole process of getting it, putting film in, taking photos and not knowing what they are going to look like, instead of just taking them on your phone. I took that camera to the Euros and tried taking some photos away from the football to capture more of our day-to-day lives.
As for my new camera, I've done a little bit of research. I think it's a Fuji film, a type of Fuji film, and it's just a little bit more compact and digital, which makes it a little bit easier. Hopefully I'll take some good pictures to post soon.
In ten years time, my perfect day off would probably see me somewhere by the beach. Waking up with a sea view, going for a nice little independent coffee, playing some games. I love card games like Yahtzee! Locking my phone away somewhere and just being with the people who I love, my family and just enjoying the simple things and just not taking life too seriously, having a laugh. Beach life and photography, that’s me down to a tee.
