Cheltenham Town
groups. We always talk about pathways
and players in the past have got to an age
where they can play adult football and
never progressed so it is something we
have worked hard at this season to set
right. As I have mentioned, the senior
ladies are role models, despite most of
them falling in to a 16-20 age category,
and so they are the catalyst for players
coming through.”
Integration
“Our senior ladies and myself have
to make sure we do as much as we can
to allow it to happen. We have often
been coaching or watching the youth
setups matches, speaking to parents
and enhancing the reputation of the
club. Relationships are formed by these
actions and therefore those players,
when ready, are not coming into an alien
environment.”
Challenges Ambitions
“There will come a level where we
cannot grow any further and the club
begins to stagnate again. I know with
the current people involved in the club
this won’t happen any time soon, but we
have to continue moving forward as a
club and overcome any likelihood of this
happening. For the adult setup, we have
to continue improving relationships
with the youth setup, as it is important
to the whole process working.” “I had a 2/3 year plan to get
promoted, so I would like to think we
can achieve that within this timescale.
Our ambitions then change and we re-
assess but right now we are focused on
not going backwards and only looking
forward. We have to continue growing
our whole club approach and maintain
our status as the place to play women’s
and girls football in the county.”
Community
“I believe we are a community club.
We try to do as much outreach as we can.
We recently did a donation to the local
food bank and have other initiatives in
the pipeline. The club as a whole, and
I include the youth setup in this, are
always looking for ways to reach out to
the local community, with an end goal
being to engage more people in watching
female football.”
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