THIS summer’s historic Euro 2022 win for the England women’s team has led to more women and girls wanting to take up the sport and have the opportunity to play. In Westbury, women’s football looks set to take off in a big way and there are calls for volunteers to help set up the development of girls’ football.
For women, a new team, Westbury Ladies FC, has just been launched and got off to a flying start with a 5-0 win against Highridge in their first ever game at the weekend.
Manager of the team, Zach Cutting said, “I’ve been blown away by the response to setting up a women’s team in Westbury – we’ve had 40 ladies show up to pre-season training and 20 that have signed up and registered to the club so far.
“It was only seven weeks ago that we had a meeting about setting up a women’s team and it’s just great to see how quickly things have come together.
“We’ve joined the Ladies’ Wiltshire Premier League, got a brand-new kit and training kit for all the team and got off to an unbelievable start on the pitch, with a resounding 5-0 win in our first friendly game. We’ve got a few more friendlies now planned before we face FC Calne Adult Ladies away on Sunday 11th September in our first league game.”
Westbury Ladies FC will play under the Westbury Youth FC umbrella for the 2022-2023 season and both the youth set-up and the women’s team will fall under the banner of Westbury United next season.
Volunteers needed to grow girls’ football in Westbury
Westbury Youth FC, the home of youth football development in the town, is appealing for anyone that could help coach girls’ football at the club.
The chairman of the club, Aaron Whiting, says that he would love to see girls’ football development expanded in Westbury but as the club is made up entirely of volunteers, he would need more volunteers to make it a reality.
There is currently increased enthusiasm from girls who want to play football, helped by the huge achievement of the women’s England team winning the Euro 2022 trophy, he said.
Speaking to the White Horse News, Aaron said, “We currently do not have a girls’ team – but this is not from a want of trying! I would love to get more girls’ teams set up. The interest is there, and we’re more than happy to support that interest, but what we need is a coach to help facilitate this.
“If someone said to me that they wanted to set up a girls’ team, but they are concerned that they have no experience, if you show the commitment and prove that you will follow it through to the end, the club will pay you to get all the qualifications that you need.
“By FA rules, every coach should have a completed a first aid course, a DBS check, a safeguarding course, and an introduction to football course which is about £250 in total – but the club can help pay for that.”
There are currently no girls’ teams in the town, but Aaron is hoping the new women’s team will have a knock-on effect on coaching at the club.
Aaron continued, “One thing we’ve considered is seeing if any of our current ladies’ players would like to take up coaching a girls’ team, but they will be focussing on their own campaign this season. If anyone, in particular mums or women interested in coaching, wants to help us out, then we would really appreciate it.
“I’m hoping that the recent successes of the Lionesses will inspire more girls to get into the game and make it less of a male-dominated sport. We need to feed the opportunity now, so that we continue to have a long line of successful women coming through.
“I think a big part of the problem is that most girls get into the sport through having a dad or brother that is football mad, but there is still a large section of girls that could fall in love with the game that have no real exposure to it. Hopefully this Euros win will inspire girls right across the country.”
If you are interested in becoming a coach for the club, then email chairman@westburyyouth.co.uk
Teams for every age group
Aaron continued, “We are not just on the lookout for a girls’ coach and players – we need more boys to sign up to our under 14s-18s teams as well. What I want in the future is a girls’ and boys’ team for every age group and with the number of houses popping up around the town, surely we can fulfil this.”
New signups to Westbury Youth FC can be completed by filling out a form on their website: www.westburyyouthfc.co.uk/registration-form
