A Dundee community football club hailed as one of Scotland’s best have launched a major drive to promote the women’s game.
Dundee West FC are pulling together all their female teams – for players from as young as three all the way to adults – under one banner.
It is hoped the move will raise the profile of the game in the city.
All sides will wear the same strip and play under the same name: Dundee West Ladies.
Up to 300 players from various clubs in the city turned up to an open day to launch the new era at the weekend, at the side’s Charlotte Street pitches in Downfield.
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Tam McCabe, CEO of the club’s charitable arm Dundee West Community Trust, has hailed the changes as an “absolutely huge” moment for the club and women’s football in the city.
And he says the timing could not be better after the huge success of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 Championships in England.
He said: “Although Scotland sadly didn’t qualify for the tournament on this occasion, the event has been phenomenal for promoting the game.
“There has been so much interest in the games and we want the Scotland team to be up there competing with the likes of England at these tournaments.
“We saw what happened when Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 2019. We had a massive spike in the number of girls and women signing up with us.
“Girls’ and women’s football is here and it’s only going to grow and grow.
“We’re playing a part in that by creating a clear pathway for our players to join young and play all the way into adulthood.”
The Euros, held at stadiums across England, have been hailed as transformational for the women’s game in both the UK and further afield.
The final set a record attendance for a European Championship match – for both men’s and women’s tournaments – with 87,192 supporters at Wembley.
The England players captured the hearts of the population down south after beating Germany 2-1 in extra time to win the tournament on Sunday.
Tam says better exposure of the female sport could have a significant knock-on effect on the health of women and girls.
He said: “Sport can have such a big impact on mental and physical wellbeing but it’s about even more than just football itself.
“Our club has about 900 players across both male and female sides, meaning about the same number of families around Dundee have some connection or involvement with us.
“That means we have a lot of mums, many of whom say, ‘look, we’ve got no interest in playing football but we’d love to find some way for the trust to allow us to get more active and healthy’.
“We’ve started a project where mums can drop off their kids and then we put on a fitness session at the side of the park for them, helping them to get active, healthy, and have a bit of fun.
“The objective overall is to try and support a healthier community and a more active community. That has many more benefits.”
Dundee West FC’s charitable trust
Dundee West have been a huge part of the community for more than three decades with already well-established boys’ and men’s sides.
But in recent years they have branched out to charitable endeavours, with a series of award-winning initiatives.
Among these are projects providing food for those in need, reducing social isolation and getting people active with street fitness.
The club have been given significant support from both the Scottish FA and the National Lottery, and rely on an army of volunteers.
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