Seven brand new girls Wildcats Centres are being launched by Yeovil Town Ladies Football Club (YTLFC) across the region. The Wildcat initiative, created exclusively for girls, offers organised sessions in a fun and engaging environment.
The new Centres will be launched during the FA’s inaugural Girls’ Football Week (Monday 23 April – Sunday 29 April). The initiative is aimed at girls aged 5-11 who have an interest in football, want to get active, learn new skills, meet new friends and have fun outdoors.
More than 200 clubs were piloted across England in 2017 and the scheme is now being extended to more than 900 centres with 26,000 participants across the country.
Wildcats Girls’ Football sessions take place on a weekly basis, either after school or at weekends, and provide a safe environment where girls can try football for the first time. The initiative aims to inspire participants to engage with football, meet new friends, develop fundamental skills, learn new things and create the foundation for a lifelong love of football. Each Wildcats club will be run in conjunction with local County FAs and utilising qualified coaches and local facilities to offer girls a location nearby where they can get involved.
Trevor Jenkins, General Manager, Yeovil Town Ladies Football Club, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer a local, organised and safe opportunity for girls to get involved within football. As a club, we have a clear ambition to grow and expand the number of females enjoying football both as a sport and as a way to stay fit and active, as well as the number of fans and supporters enjoying the game.”
The FA has an ambitious target to double the number of players and fans in the women’s game by 2020. One hundred and ninety-nine SSE Wildcats Centres, where 5-11-year-olds can enjoy football on a weekly basis, have been established with a further 772 to follow. SSE Wildcats has been established in partnership with SSE, supporters of girls’ football participation and sponsor of the SSE Women’s FA Cup, with support from UEFA, FIFA and The Youth Sport Trust.
The YTLFC Wildcat programme begins at the following locations:
Huish Episcopi Leisure Centre, Langport (starts Monday 23rd April)
Bridgwater and Taunton College, Bridgwater (starts Tuesday 24th April)
Gryphon Leisure Centre, Sherborne (starts Tuesday 24th April)
Strode Sports Centre, Street (starts Wednesday 25th April)
Yeovil College, Yeovil (starts Friday 27th April)
Weston-super-Mare FC, Weston-super-Mare (starts Friday 27th April)
Berrow FC, Berrow (starts Saturday 28th April)
Bookings can be made by contacting wildcats@yeoviltownladies.com
Sessions will be running for 16 weeks at each location. The first session will be free, and the hope is to continue the Centres beyond the initial period. At the end of the programme there will be a mini Awards Ceremony, a guest appearance by at least one of the Yeovil Town Ladies first team players and a certificate for all who attended.
Report courtesy of Yeovil Town Ladies FC
