Wakefield Trinity Ladies FC.
Wakefield Trinity are set to achieve a ‘Football First’ by introducing a female football pathway through their charitable partner, Wakefield Trinity Community Trust.
As an elite sporting brand, Wakefield Trinity are a Rugby League club and play in the BetFred Super League, finishing just outside the end of season playoffs in the last two seasons.
Discussions were held between Wakefield Trinity Community Trust, Hemsworth Miners Welfare FC and Wakefield FC Ladies recently and plans are now firmly in place to re-brand at the end of the current season.
They will play their home games at Fitzwilliam Stadium, home of Hemsworth Miners Welfare FC and their Chairman, Richard Norman, hopes Wakefield Trinity Ladies FC will treat it as their home, not just as a place to play.
This agreement, however, is far from the rebranding of an existing football club to don the name of the Wakefield Trinity brand. Through the SSE Wildcats programme there will be opportunities for girls who are 5 to 11 to play Football on a weekly basis.
A re-launch of the Player Development Centre through a partnership with Wakefield College and Outwood Academy Hemsworth will allow young aspiring females who are 11 to 16 a place where they can develop their skills in a non-club environment where a fixed commitment is not required.
Wakefield College already offer a sports provision for females who wish to play Football while studying at the College but a new partnership will see it become a Girls’ Academy for Wakefield Trinity Ladies FC.
A further benefit to Wakefield FC Ladies would be the association with a Charitable Trust which will allow them access to further funding streams, as well as a link into the local schools.
Wakefield Trinity Community Trust, General Manager, Craig Shepherd said: “An opportunity presented itself to create a strong offer for females alongside the work we already do with Women & Girls Rugby League. It was important that we had the support of Wakefield FC Ladies who have rich tradition in the district but lacked any form of pathway for aspiring young females.”
“Hemsworth Miners Welfare are as excited as we are to bring a good standard of female Football to Fitzwilliam in addition to the good work Ossett United are doing on the other side of the district. To have a pathway from Key Stage One to Key Stage Five in education will only serve the region well.”
“The ladies already play in a good quality North East division alongside teams like Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Ossett United. To be the first elite brand of a non-footballing nature to expand the brand into Women’s Football is bound to capture people’s attention and we can’t wait to get started.”