For Luciana Cecchini, joining Derby County Community Trust’s Female Talent Pathway at the age of 13 marked the beginning of a journey that has seen her progress through the pathway, represent Derby County and take on new challenges away from the club.

Now 18, Luciana has continued to push herself at every stage of her development. After progressing through the pathway and spending last season with Derby County Under-21s, she has gained further senior experience through loan spells with Northampton Town and Sporting Khalsa.

Luciana’s football journey began in Year 6, when she first started playing for her school’s girls’ team before moving into grassroots football. She continued playing at grassroots level until around Under-14s, when she joined the Female Talent Pathway after her mum spotted trials advertised online.

Since joining the Female Talent Pathway, Luciana has progressed through the age groups and experienced different levels of the game, giving her a strong foundation to continue developing.

She feels the pathway has had a significant impact on her growth as a player, particularly in helping her become more confident in herself. “I think I have progressed a lot. I think I’ve become a much more confident person on and off the pitch,” she said.

That development has continued through her experiences away from Derby. After spending the second half of last season on loan with Northampton, Luciana moved to Sporting Khalsa for the 2026/27 season, giving her another opportunity to test herself in a different environment.

For Luciana, having the opportunity to play senior football has brought new challenges and helped her develop aspects of her game that may not have been tested in the same way previously.

“I think it’s made me more mentally resilient, and I think it’s improved a lot about my game because you’re forced to play in a different kind of way to how you do at Under-21s,” she said.

Luciana has also valued the opportunities that have come with being part of the pathway. From coaching experiences and regular visits to St George’s Park to overnight stays and trips to Southampton, Ipswich and the Netherlands, she believes the programme has exposed her to experiences beyond simply playing matches.

“I do think it’s exposed us to some good opportunities. We’ve got to do coaching, we’ve been to St George’s Park a lot. We’ve been on a few overnight stays. Like we went to Southampton, Ipswich. Yeah, we went to Holland. There’s a lot of opportunities,” she said.

Reflecting on her favourite memory from her time in the pathway so far, Luciana said: “For me it was probably in my first season with the Under-21s. It was the FA Women’s National League Reserves Cup final. We won that. It was good, we played at St George’s Park and we beat Bournemouth,” she said.

The close environment within the Female Talent Pathway has also played an important part in Luciana’s experience. Spending so much time with the same group of players, including through the Trust’s Football and Education College Programme, has helped create strong friendships.

“I think it’s a really good environment to be around. I think everyone gets along. I think the training’s high quality, it’s always high intensity,” she said.

Those friendships have become part of Luciana’s life away from football, too, with teammates becoming people she spends time with outside of training and matches.

As she continues her development, Luciana is motivated by the clear pathway towards the first team and the opportunity to see what could be possible through continued hard work. “It’s good motivation to see what you can achieve, so you know what you’re working towards,” she said.

Her ambitions for the future are clear: to keep improving, enjoy her football and see how far she can take it. “I want to carry on playing football at the highest level I can play, and to just enjoy it and keep improving.” she said.

For the new season, Luciana’s focus is on making the most of her time on loan and continuing to work on the areas of her game that can take her to the next level.“Because I’m on loan, this season I just want to improve myself, improve bits of my game that need improving, and just become a better player overall,” she explained.

For Luciana, the pathway has provided the platform to develop, challenge herself and take the next steps towards her ambitions in football.