Women’s amateur football club, Andover New Street U13 Girls, receives GIFT Grant funding for kits, development and coaching from Agility Life Sciences, a healthcare consultancy and communications firm.
Andover New Street U13 girls are an amateur football club for young girls, and this year will be coached by their first ever female coach, Gemma Dunn. The club also has an established Ladies team, which has been fully reformed for this coming season to provide a full development pathway for female footballers from a young age.
Gemma Dunn, Coach at Andover New Street U13 girls, said “Andover New Street U13 girls are the first football team I have coached since graduating from University in the USA where I was on a football scholarship. I’m excited to have the opportunity to coach these girls. They are a great team on and off the field and I hope that together we can develop into an even better footballing side.”
Felicity Mitchell, mother of an Andover New Street U13 girls player, said “As we start the new season with our first female coach for the U13 team, our girls can’t wait to return to training and matches in a safe way following the difficult lockdown period. We are over the moon to receive this grant to help us get back on the pitch and are grateful to Agility Life Sciences for their support.”
The GIFT grant, or Girls In Football Teams grant, is a £500 sponsorship to provide support for women and girls in grassroots football organisations across the UK. These grants are intended to enable girls and women to learn valuable business skills from football like tenacity, adaptability and graciousness in both victory and defeat, but also to provide inspiration for the next generation.
Claire Thompson, CEO of Agility Life Sciences, said “I played football from 5 to 40 years old (with a few injury breaks in between) and it gave me skills for life, not just for sport. Women’s sport is very poorly funded, and it has got worse through the pandemic. I want to ensure that girls and women who aspire to be the next Lucy Bronze are not hampered by lack of coaching, equipment or kit.”
