Hello

My name is Neil Clampitt-Dix and I manage Bath City Youth FC (Girls). I am writing to you in the hope that you may consider helping to sponsor a fantastic opportunity to promote girls football in Bath. I appreciate that you are asked often but if you have 5 minutes I would like to explain a little more below.

Currently, Bath City Youth FC has 18 squads, 16 of which are all boys or at best, have one or two girls in the very young squads. We have two all girl squads at U14 & U16 level however this has not always been the case. Girls are still massively under represented both at the club and across the city.

Girls’ football is one of the fastest growing sports at grassroots level. This has been fuelled by the expansion of the FA Women’s Super League (WSL) and the growing success of the England women’s team. There is a huge demand for girls’ football but the normal networks and structures that draw boys to the clubs are not as effective for girls. We want to help change that.

Two years ago, we had 1 squad with the aim of creating another for the following season. The following season, we had our second squad. This year, we are developing a third squad ready for September 2019. It sounds easy, but when you rely on finding volunteers to run, manage and coach all aspects of the squads, it never is. Acquiring and/or producing qualified coaches was essential (and a requirement under FA rules) however we wanted more that that; highly qualified coaches and female coaches is our aim. We have begun to achieve this by having a UEFA A coach and at least one qualified female coach working regularly with the girls alongside two Level 1 male coaches.

We also wanted to inspire and provide role models for the girls. This same desire to inspire, and excite girls into playing football was felt by SCD Pastoriza, a voluntary club like ours in Artexio, near the city of Coruna in the province of Galicia, Spain. Through our Spanish coach in the club we were able to organize an amazing opportunity for both teams. In November of this year we were able to take 17 of our girls from both squads to Galicia. They played against the U16 Girls team from Club Deportivo La Coruna as well as several games and training sessions with the our host club SCD Pastoriza. They met players from Deportivo La Coruna and were even coached by Javier Lavandeira, 10 years a coach at Deportivio La Coruna.

In addition, they were able to experience the culture of Galicia, and the fantastic hospitality of our hosts. They met the Mayor of Artexio and were presented with a fabulous cut glass vase representing the town. They also made the local paper with a full-page piece and following our visit, were featured on the local radio there. Our parents, coaches and girls were truly overwhelmed by the welcome given and the immense work that Pablo (head coach of Pastorizo) and the club had clearly done in organising this amazing trip. And, most importantly, apart from their flights, all of this was provided free to our girls. All of this trip can be seen via @2018_galicia.

We now wish to bring our Spanish girls to Bath in March of 2019 so they can experience something unique as well. We have a full itinerary planned for them including match competitions against other girls teams at Odd Down, Twerton park Stadium and Lansdown and training sessions with a specialist coach. They will also attend Bath City FCs league match versus Wealdstone and several of the girls will be invited to be ball girls for the match. They will experience some of the key cultural attractions of Bath including meeting the Mayor for a presentation, a tour of the Roman Baths and a walking tour of the city, in Spanish. In addition we will also be taking them to Bristol for a wider experience of the area including visiting the SS Great Britain, M-Shed and, we hope, a visit to Ashton Gate stadium. Finally, the girls will spend 1 of the 5 nights with a host family both as a cultural experience and to improve each others language skills.

As with our trip to Spain, apart from the flights, the full cost of hosting the girls will fall on the parents and girls in our squad. Bath City FC have been fantastic in allowing us to fundraise on match days and provide us with the stadium for elements of the trip and fundraising activities. In addition, parents have been giving generously alongside the money raised through our various fundraising activities including car washes, cake sales, bag packing, boot sales, and quiz nights.

However, the full cost of delivering a fantastic experience for our Spanish friends is £3500. This will cover the accommodation for 24 people, food, transport, sightseeing and small additional costs that inevitably occur. While we hope to raise much of the funding over the next 2 months prior to their arrival and beyond we are hoping that some of the cost might be raised via sponsorship. Below are some examples of the specific costs we need to cover.

If you are able to help in any way we would be hugely grateful and we know that we can make this an amazing experience for all. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at:

Email: bathcitygirlsfootball@gmail.com

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this