Yeovil Town report that current player and Welsh International, Helen Bleazard, has been appointed as the club’s first ever youth and community officer.
The new role is designed to help bring all aspects of the clubs youth teams, women’s teams and community projects all together, enabling greater participation levels and consistency across the club, as well as aiding in an even greater feeling of club unity in the Lady Glovers’ family.
First team player Bleazard, will be the key and main liaison between the youth and other women’s senior teams and will report to the board of directors on their behalf.
Now the club has more than found their feet in the WSL, the board felt it was important to create a new role, in order to keep in excellent contact with the much thriving youth and community and to help development it even more, setting high standards across the different ranges.
As well as a first team squad, the club also operates a development team who play in the WSL Development league. The other women’s senior team is that of the successful intermediate squad, who play in the Somerset County Womens League. There are then three grass roots youth teams, who play in the local girls leagues at age groups under fourteen, fifteen and sixteen.
With some exciting plans soon to be released around youth and girls football in the next month, the plan is to also increase the number of grass roots youth teams and to grow the club even more.
Chairman Steve Allinson said “With the high demands of being a Womens Super League Club, it was important for the club to not lose its focus and commitment to growing the other areas of the club, so this new appointment is a very important one”
“Helen has really impressed myself and my fellow Board members with her ideas and commitment to the role. She will be working with Mark Porter who, with our main sponsor Jones Builders, has championed the development of our youth teams.”
“We hope that the appointment of Helen will ensure we demonstrate to all our teams the importance we place on working as one club throughout our whole structure.”
Bleazard who was once a Yeovil Town Ladies youth team player in her younger days, had this to say on her appointment ”I’m very excited to accept this new role within the club and can’t wait to get started. Having played in the youth teams at Yeovil when I was younger I can’t wait to put our plans into place for the upcoming seasons and create a stronger youth ethos within the club. Hopefully in years to come there will be current youth team players representing the club in the senior teams.
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