At the weekend Weymouth Football Club announced their intentions to run a Women’s first-team starting this Summer.
Managed by Natalie Anderson, the club has invited local players to attend trials over the summer.
Speaking to BBC Solent earlier in the week, Natalie Anderson says that now is the right time for the club to form a women’s team.
“I think it’s always been an idea for Weymouth,” says Anderson. “It’s just been doing it at the right time. The last couple of years Women’s had progressed so much, especially with the England Ladies.
“We’ve got a really strong youth section which is really well managed, organised and run; we’ve got a girls’ section within that so it’s giving females a pathway from that into further football so it doesn’t just stop at the end of Under 16s.
“It had to be at the right time, we’ve had Covid-19 against us but it’s definitely the right time to push forward with it.”
As a long-term Terras fan, Weymouth Women’s new manager said she ‘stunned’ when she found out she had been offered the role.
“The board approached me,” continued Anderson. “I’m a Terras fan through and through, always going to their matches and knew a few on the board already and have done for a few years now. They came and asked if I would be interested and asked what my view was, I said it was something I’d love to get involved in. It’s a bit more of a challenge for me, it’s a great opportunity that I was stunned by and there was no way I could pass it up.
“This is something which has been in the pipeline for some time now. Mark Molesley and the lads are doing absolutely amazing to get to the standard where they’re at; the Women’s team was only a matter of time, we’ve got the Youth section and the Girls Youth section, the next thing was a Women’s team so females have a pathway too.
“The club is very community orientated, the Youth section does a lot within the community, so this is really important.”
Despite the concern surrounding on-going Covid-19 pandemic, Anderson has said that she is that she has been impressed by the interest in the new team. She was keen to enforce that the trials and future training sessions will closely be following the ever-evolving Government guidelines.
“Yes, it is a time which could negatively impact,” says Anderson. “Which is a concern and was a concern with launching whether people would have that much interest because of what is going on. But the fact that we have been getting the interest is a good thing.
“Everyone is not sure about the future of day-to-day life and what it’s going to be like, let alone football, so that’s something we’ve got to consider when we do the trials that we’re doing them following Government guidelines.
“It’s hopeful that we’ve had the interest even with Covid-19 around, that’s a positive thing.
“Fingers crossed, I think everything is going to be a ‘new normal’. I think there may be things still in place, but we can only hope and we can plan and deal with these things as they come along. It’s not just going to be us who are affected, it will be everyone.
“We’re all in the same boat, we’ve just got to do what we can.”
If you are interested in attending a trial for Weymouth Women’s team then please email Natalie@theterras.com and James@theterras.com.
