Leading renewable energy company ScottishPower became the exclusive principal partner for Scottish Women’s Football and the Scottish Women’s Premier League at the start of last season, and it is dedicated to supporting the women’s game from grassroots to elite.
To celebrate its partnership, the firm is providing six kit packages to grassroots clubs featuring bibs, cones, water bottles and Puma football boots and footballs (sized for U14s).
It asked the captains of each of the top six SWPL sides to nominate a community club they value for their work to further developing girls’ youth football.
Dumfries born footballer Kirsty Howat, who’s been capped by Scotland at junior and senior levels, nominated Heston Rover Girls, whose coach Chris Hay received the new equipment at the team’s training ground in Dumfries.
Kirsty said: “It’s great to be here to hand out this new kit to the girls. When I was a young girl, we always just got hand me down kit, usually kits that the boys were done with, and they’d always be too big. We’d get old footballs too.
“To be handing out new kits, footballs and everything here tonight is absolutely brilliant.”
Heston Girls coach Chris Hay added: “A kit donation like this means everything to Heston, it’s great to have the support from ScottishPower and also our local hero Kirsty Howat.
“The girls just love to see someone they can aspire to be.
“The girls and women’s game in Dumfries is growing fast. We’ve grown from 20/30 girls to into the hundreds now of girls in this area who are able to access and play football, all the way from under 8s to under 16s, and all here at Heston.
“That in turn means we always need to provide more and more kit, so to have this provided by ScottishPower for us is just superb.”
Keith Anderson, chief executive of ScottishPower, said: “We want to energise women’s football for both current and future generations and build a community of players that inspire even more people to play and enjoy the game.”
