Weymouth Women took the opportunity to join Brian Stock and his coaching staff for a training session on Tuesday evening.
Having returned to training last week, following the change in guidance for grassroots football, the Terras women were able to call on the experience and guidance of Brian Stock, Robbie Yates and Sammy Lander for their training session this week.
“It was something that I highlighted a number of weeks ago,” said Stock. “It’s been a frustrating year for the Women’s team and junior teams. It’s something which I said in my programme notes not long ago, that I wanted to bring them a little bit closer to the football club.
“Although my intentions remain solely on the first team, given the fact that the calendar was so busy over the Friday and the Monday, we gave the first team the opportunity to have the Tuesday off and we’ll train together on Thursday.
“Rather than waste that opportunity and not utilise the training venue, it was a good opportunity to speak to the Weymouth Women’s team and Natalie (Anderson) to see if the girls wanted a session taken by myself, Sammy (Lander) and Robbie Yates.
“It’s something that I feel is important, sometimes these things don’t necessarily happen and it’s all hearsay, but I wanted to act on it and I’m pleased we managed to put a session on, hopefully, the girls got a lot of confidence out of that.”
Having formed last Summer, Weymouth Women currently sit third in the Dorset Women’s League with games in hand on the team above. The league recently voted to conclude the season aiming to play at least 50% of the originally scheduled fixtures by the end of May.
They also have a tough Dorset Women’s Cup quarter-final fixture this weekend against league leaders Holt United.
Brain Stock was full of praise for the attitude which the squad showed whilst he was coaching them.
“I think coaching women and girls, in general, they’re a delight to coach, their attitude is excellent, they’re attentive to the information,” he continued.
“When I put the session across to the girls, I didn’t necessarily need to tell them twice, one or two coaching points maybe but that’s only to improve the technical detail given to them.
“Their attitude and application were absolutely spot on; I didn’t really expect anything less having had that previous experience.”
Lead by manager Natalie Anderson, the women’s team has had a frustrating time to their life with the Terras, having had to endure two lockdowns putting a temporary halt to the season, as well as Covid protocols affecting access to facilities.
Brian Stock said he recognises the importance of the women’s team to Weymouth Football Club and appreciated the tough season they’ve had; he also said he wishes to extend the sessions to the Terras’ junior teams when possible.
“I think the development of the Women’s and Girls’ teams are important,” explained Stock. “I think it’s an area where the club has a responsibility to pay attention and give a helping hand when we can.
“I think Natalie deserves a lot of credit, with the fact that she takes up a lot of her time to coach the girls and she does a fantastic job, it’s been difficult over the last twelve months but hopefully, things will get back to normal soon and they’ll be starting to play a few fixtures again.
“It was pleasing to see everyone, meet everyone and get to know the management staff of the Women’s team; hopefully, in the future, we can do that with the junior teams and the managers alike.”
