Glasgow Saints FC shares delight as women's training sessions launched

Glasgow Saints FC will launch the training programme at Alexandra Park Sports Hub in Dennistoun on Friday May 21 as restrictions on outdoor exercise for adults lift.

The club has built strong community roots after being launched in January 2020 and director Kyle Burgess hopes it is this ethos that will drive the new training sessions which are also being offered to men.

Kyle Burgess and Emma Jones from Glasgow Saints FC

He believes the new programme will open the door to football for those who may have had barriers in their way. The idea to start women’s football training was accelerated by the tragic murder of Sara Everard in March.

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Women in the area raised concerns about the lack of groups and organised activities. Kyle said: “Men and women are absolutely equal at this club and speaking to my wife as well, there wasn’t a lot there.

"We were seeing people on these community pages asking if there were any groups for running or sports because they don’t want to go out themselves. Women are just looking for a safe space and that’s a reason we brought it forward as well.

"There’s no way we could sit on this. If we stand for equality, there has to be opportunities for men and women to have a safe place to meet people and get fit.

“We wanted to open community sessions to men and women to make sure that there’s a place to come and be.

“Those who can afford it - that’s great. It helps us pay for the pitch. Obviously those who can’t, there’s no barrier to showing up to get coaching and get fit and make friends.”

As well as that, Glasgow Saints is hoping to tackle the mental health crisis and combat loneliness with their new community sessions. Kyle added: “What we want to do is cover isolation, loneliness and people who just don’t really have anything to do. We wanted to set up a way to get people to meet each other and play whether they had funds or not.

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"From that, we want to be more than just a football team. We want people to feel safe in their neighbourhoods.”

Kyle hopes that this will be a way for people to keep fit and shift the lockdown pounds.He added: “It’ll be geared towards an introduction or a re-introduction to football.

“Whether you are unfit, you’ve never played the game, or you’ve been playing football at the park with your mates but you want a bit more structure - we’re going to cover all bases. It’ll be very welcoming and not too taxing.”

He has emphasised a team has not yet been formed, but Glasgow Saints have an ambition to do so in the future. He said: “Eventually we’ll look to apply for a league.

From there, we’ll develop it into a full-blown first team for women as well where the ones who want to take it more seriously will have the opportunity to step up.

“We’ve had a lot of people message because they’re a bit daunted about coming to the first team training. We’ve had a lot of people saying they’d like to get involved but they’re a bit worried and anxious because they’ve not done much exercise - but that’s what we’re setting up to do.”

“We’ll be getting people fit, but not in a sort of boot camp sense. It’ll be a gradual process, it’ll be getting fit as a by-product of coming along and having fun. We’re not looking to get people absolutely shredded. We want to make people enjoy coming along and through that, introducing more healthy activities to their lifestyle.”

Anyone who is interested in attending one of the sessions can find more information on the club’s facebook page here.