Nathan Hallett-Young is head of women’s football at Bristol Rovers Community Trust and the coach of the newly formed Gas Girls. As sponsors of the girls we caught up with Nathan for a chat to find out more about him.
Nathan has been a player since the age of eight for local grass roots teams around Wiltshire, to then playing Western League football for Westbury United for five years before moving to Corsham Town. There his work and coaching time table got the better of him and he stopped playing all together; he has always enjoyed playing football.
Nathan explains, “My coaching background started through the Bristol Rovers Community Trust BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in sport where I gained my level 1 coaching award following on to higher education with the Trust where I got my level 2, and gained voluntary experience with the Community Trust and Westbury United. I became Vice Chairman of the club at Westbury and also had stints as First Team Manger on interim basis. I have been a full time staff member at the community trust for the last three years (however being here for the last 7) and coaching on a regular basis. I have seen my role change in different areas and am currently Head of Women’s football here at the trust, these being as a volunteer coach, a student and as a full time member of staff. I came to Bristol Rovers because of the Futsal education programme the Trust runs, all I wanted to do was play football and be directly involved with football no matter what I did”.
Five Open Training Sessions have been held so far at Lockleaze Sports Centre and by the time that they reach their sixth and final session close to 100 girls will have been watched. Nathan says that the quality has been outstanding and it’s certainly given them a problem as to who they look to recruit and register for the forthcoming season. They have now selected the vast majority of their first team and they are getting closer to a finalised Development Squad as well. They will be looking to release the squads during pre-season, and all of our players will be registered to play for us, so there’s no contract as such. They hope to build a good foundation and make sure that their players are enjoying their football.
Nathan adds “As you can imagine, we’re all really excited about the forthcoming season and beyond. Myself and the Secretary & the Media Manager, Matthew Davies, have been passionate advocates of Women’s Football for a while and to be able to launch this set up under the name of Bristol Rovers is an honour. In terms of expectations for the season, we’re still at the stage where we are constructing this squad so it’s a little difficult to compare yourself against other teams until kick off. We are incredibly encouraged by the talent that we have coming into the ranks so we’re hopeful of a good season. The Development squad is also in a similar position. It’s there to develop younger players and give them the game time needed in senior football. We’re also really pleased by how this is shaping up as well. As for the future, we want to progress, develop and grow organically. We are always looking at ways to expand the club, not only to compete at a higher level but to develop a bigger grassroots set up for women and girls in the community and the importance of building a youth set-up”.
Here at the Supporters Club we are excited to be in at the start of this project and sincerely hope to build a partnership with the girls and look forward to welcoming Gasheads to Lockleaze Sports Centre for their games. Discounted Sunday lunches and bar prices will be available.