The story so far............
From the beginning of the season to December was always going to be a massive learning curve for myself and the Centre with so many changes in key positions. With this in mind the players, parents & staff have taken on board the challenges that faced them. The biggest hurdle was the fitness of players so I appointed Rachel Light as fitness coach and she started a weekly fitness programme to affect the players ABCs (agility, balance, coordination & speed). Rob Clarke also conducted match analyse at home games; another important tool for the coaches and players. In addition to this support the coaching team have focused their work with players on the four corner model (technical, tactical, physical & psychological), to ensure players are fully developed in all aspects of the game.
The fixtures came thick & fast playing Fulham & Hampshire pre-season before our regional games started against Plymouth, Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Bristol & Wiltshire; we also played an additional fixture against Reading. The results made great reading as we started to compete against very good opposition, playing attractive passing football. It was all starting to take shape.
The biggest challenge was when we travelled to play the Centre of Excellence teams at Chelsea FC, who play their matches at the 1st team’s training ground at Cobham (one of the biggest training grounds in Europe). This was a big challenge for all the players as Chelsea are one of the best centres in the country. The girls played some excellent football resulting in close score lines, especially in the two younger age groups. The Chelsea director commented afterwards that Dorset had been one of the most competitive teams they had played this season; a fantastic comment for all the hard work the players, parents & staff have put into the Centre so far this season.
Unfortunately the weather affected the fixture programme in November as the country experienced the highest monthly rain fall in history, but all the players and coaches continued to work harder than ever in training.
The Centre is growing and improving all the time however there is still a lot of work to do. Six of our players were nominated to attend the South West regional talent camp in October resulting in two players being spotted by the England scouts who will watch these players further in the New Year.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Clare Nichols, the coaches, staff, players & parents for their hard work; with out this dedication we would not have achieved so much in such a short time.
Robbie Yates (Centre Director)