By India Gay, Second year History student
A recent 6-1 thrashing of league leaders Southampton Solent demonstrated what this club is all about.
Women’s football very much has the potential to breakthrough into the mainstream media and be considered as equally important as men’s football, and UBWFC is a symbol of this. Growing at a substantial rate each year, the club now has 4 teams which brings together all abilities and is continuing to showcase the great capability of the women involved.
The 2017/18 season ended on a high for UBWFC with the 1s and 2s being promoted to the 1A and 2B leagues respectively, and the 3s showing off their skills in their games as they entered into a BUCS league for the first time. Not to mention the development squad, who also entered into a new casual league encouraging people, who may have never kicked a ball before, to get involved and achieve more wins for the club!
The summer of 2018 proved to be so much fun for the club that preseason began as a slog. With training almost every weekday, the teams endured endless fitness tests, including the dreaded ‘bleep test’ and ‘cooper run’, fast pace training sessions and painful strength and conditioning. All teams worked together to push everyone through and took the hour stretching sessions very much for granted. All was in preparation to have just as a successful year as the last.
The arrival of many fresh faces and the return of some old ‘legends’ began to create the shape of the teams for this year. The 1s began their season, under their new captain Jess Robinson, on a high by beating Bournemouth University 1s thanks to creative play, continuous balls and amazing defensive support, wowing the crowd in the process. Their second game was an unfortunate 3-2 loss; however, the girls still showcased their undeniable talents and new ‘high pressure’ tactics. Their third game, which was heart-wrenching to watch, was a frustrating 1-1 draw after Bristol had their 2nd goal denied after the famous UBWFC chant and celebration. However, this seemed to only be a short bad spell for the 1s as they made a comeback in their most recent game against Southampton Solent, with a lovely 6-1 win, despite the absence of their normal keeper!
Unfortunately, the 2s, under new captain Maj Opalinska, have had a rather hard start to the season, losing their first 2 games. However, it appears that their successful season last year has not been forgotten after the recent friendly against UWE was suspiciously cancelled one day before they were due to play. The 2s hope to prove their skills and showcase their new players in the following fixtures. Also, the 3s, under new captain Amber Thompson, had a rather upsetting start to the season after losing their first game. However, this was quickly pushed aside after they won 3 consecutive games, showing their opponents what Bristol are really made of! To further break the hearts of UBWFC members, the development squad have also played several games, but are yet to bag a win. We hope their endless efforts at training and fitness will pay off in their upcoming matches.
To hear more about UBWFC’s fixtures, please head over to the website http://ubwfc.co.uk/ to read the mesmerising match reports!
Coincidentally, ‘This Girl Can week’ is the 19th-25th November and to show support for this, UBWFC are opening up a Sunday training session at Coombe Dingle on the 25th November at 6-8pm for anyone who is interested. This is a great opportunity to come along and play football, no matter what your ability, and show that football is for everyone, not just men!
Any questions, please contact Club Captain Ellie Vaughan (ev17239.2017@my.bristol.ac.uk).
Featured Image by Emily Trim
Will the 1s manage to build on their thrashing of Southampton Solent, as they take on Bournemouth University in their next fixture? Similarly, can the 2s bounce back and register their first win of this season as they take on Cardiff Women 2s? Get involved!
