Great Bradford Ladies’ Football Club win Grassroots Football Prize

Inspired by England’s wonderful World Cup women’s football team, leading sports, leisure, and fitness charity, Fusion Lifestyle – who run Braintree Sport & Health Club and Halstead Leisure Centre – are delighted to announce that Great Bradford Ladies’ Football Club are the fifth winners of their new initiative, aimed at empowering and nurturing grassroots women’s and girl’s football teams.

Every time the England Women’s football team wins a match in the World Cup, Fusion will donate a prize, and local teams across the country can still nominate themselves for a chance to win £500 worth of support or kit, tailored to their specific needs. This announcement comes hot on the heels of England’s 2 – 1 victory against Columbia.

28 nominations poured in from supporters of the club – Great Bradford Ladies’ Football Club were a firm favourite with the judging panel. Here is a taster of their nominations:-

– An amazing well organised club and team that welcome girls and ladies of all abilities and ages to connect over their love of football
– Our ladies’ team was formed a couple of years ago and has blossomed massively, growing their team and young girls teams throughout the club.

The ladies first team at Great Bradford Ladies’ Football Club, who train at Braintree Sport & Health Club, is one of 32 teams within the rapidly growing club. The ladies’ team have recently created a reserves team, opening the door for more women to enjoy the sport, with 45 – 50 women training as part of the squad each week. The ladies first team worked hard and had a great season last year and have been promoted to division one of the Essex County Women’s League. The £500 prize will be used to buy an away kit for the ladies’ team, bringing an end to wearing bibs or mismatched tops and making them look and feel more of a team.

Commenting on winning the prize from Fusion, Charlie Kayley, club secretary, said: The whole club is proud of the Ladies team. Over the last five years they have gone from not playing at all to getting promoted and fighting in Division One. Not only that, the team have immersed themselves in club life too. We recently ran a soccer camp and 13 of the ladies took part as coaches, which is really inspiring for younger girls just starting their football journeys.”

Teams across the country, chosen to win an award will be announced by Fusion Lifestyle shortly after every England win and nominations will continue to run whilst the team remains in the tournament. Entries are still open, so teams can visit https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3QBT7SS and fill out the form with their details, giving reasons as to why they should win.

Anthony Cawley, Fusion Lifestyle CEO, comments: “Much like the rest of the nation, Fusion is behind the England team this summer, and to show our support, we’ve created an initiative that will encourage young women to start or keep playing the beautiful game!”