Hull City Ladies granted England Talent Pathway for Girls

Hull City Ladies are delighted to announce that they have been granted a three-year FA Emerging Talent Centre Licence.

Emerging Talent Centres (ETC) have replaced what was formerly known as Regional Talent Centres RTC. Hull City Ladies FC now have the opportunity to offer further high-quality training environments licensed by The FA. They are thrilled that their ETC will be based in the heart of Hull and focus on Under 9s, U10s and U11s. 

This means that local talent in Hull will have the opportunity to access this fabulous facility. This will provide an England pathway for identified girls in our region. Hull City Ladies have been waiting a long time for this opportunity and a lot of hard work and dedication has gone into securing this license. 

The aim of Hull City Ladies is to ensure that all girls in our area regardless of circumstances can access the same opportunities as any player showing potential talent. RTCs have been inaccessible for many in our region due to distance and players having to travel out of the city, placing significant financial strain on their families. Hull City Ladies wanted to ensure that talent is not missed and is proud to support young girls and their families to achieve their full potential. The ETC will cost £120 per season – 30 weeks. Hull City Ladies are also implementing a Hardship Policy for families who may need additional support in relation to affordability. This will be managed with sensitivity and confidentiality and they want to encourage families to come forward and access support if this is needed. 

Hull City Ladies also have a very successful Girls Elite Academy. They plan to continue to operate this for  U12s, U14s and U16s, as their vision remains to create a full pathway for young players to emerge and achieve their potential as rising future stars in Women’s Football. Last season, six players graduated from the Girls Elite Academy and went on to to play Senior Football for Hull City Ladies FC. They are proud to be able to offer this and will continue to work closely with the ETC and GEA to track progress and develop young girls. Keep your eyes peeled for new signings.

The new ETC will be based at Sirius West Academy. The aim is to create a positive learning environment using the Long Term Player Development Model, looking at the four corners of developing players technically, physically, socially and psychologically. Identifying and engaging girls at the very early stages is key and Hull City Ladies can instil the passion and drive they need to be successful. They have the resources and fantastic staff to create a wrap-around approach to delivery. 

Hull City Ladies Managing Director, Danny Johnson, said: “It’s fantastic to see Hull City Ladies being granted the license for an ETC. Last year we launched our Girls Elite Academy as we recognised there was so much talent in Hull and the surrounding areas, too many young players in our area have been unable to access previous RTCs due to barriers such as travel. Lots of our young girls have strong bonds and relationships with their grassroots teams and we wanted to continue to promote this and not disrupt this for them. We also want to continue to support our local grassroots clubs as a whole. Positive relationships with coaches and managers from these clubs across the city are key to ensuring that we identify talent. 

“We fully welcome and recognise the potential of working together with our local grassroots teams to ‘home grow’ our very own football stars. We hope to continue to work with as many of these clubs as possible to support one another, ultimately ensuring that the young girls get the best of both. We know for most young people friendships are hugely important and a big part of young players growing in confidence, developing socially and feeling happy overall. The ETC is a fantastic programme which promotes and follows the England Talent Pathway, and what is really pleasing is that all the girls can continue to play for their grassroots clubs. 

“We now have a full pathway from U9s to U16s which will produce excellent players. I’m really looking forward to seeing players develop all the way through the ETC and the GEA onto playing for the Tigresses and potentially England. Hull City Ladies have a vision of becoming a Women’s Super League club in ten years. With the fantastic backing of our sponsors, partners, grassroots teams, supporters, players, staff and volunteers, we continue to grow and be so very proud. We want to create a lasting legacy, to have homegrown players playing at the highest level possible and potentially for England, just like our very own Club Ambassador Carol Thomas, a legendary England player herself who continues to fly the flag for women’s football in our area. We would like to thank everyone who has made this possible, this is something that the city has needed and is long overdue.”