Notley & Boyle Visit Dunbar United Girls With Scottish Power

Grassroots football club Dunbar United Girls scores new training gear thanks to Premier League stars and ScottishPower.

Dunbar United Girls football team has scored vital new equipment for its youth players after being nominated for a prize giveaway by Hibernian club captain Rachael Boyle and star midfielder Ellis Notley from SWPL Principal Partner ScottishPower.

The leading renewable energy company became the exclusive Principal Partner for Scottish Women’s Football and the Scottish Women’s Premier League at the start of last season and is dedicated to supporting the women’s game from grassroots to elite.

To celebrate its partnership, the firm is providing 6 x kit packages to grassroots clubs featuring bibs, cones, water bottles, Puma football boots and footballs (sized for U14s).

It asked captains at each of the top 6 SWPL sides to nominate a community club they value for their work to further develop girls’ youth football in their local area.

Hibs club captain and Scotland internationalist Rachael Boyle nominated Dunbar Girls and handed over the kit with support from fellow player Ellis Notley to Dunbar coach Fraser Docherty at the team’s training ground along with Colin Miller, ScottishPower's Customer & Community Liason Manager.

She said: “I’m a local girl and live just along the road so regularly see the girls out here training. Getting the new kit from ScottishPower is a massive boost for girls teams like Dunbar, we’ve seen their faces here as they get the new balls and new boots out – they can’t wait to get on the pitch and use them which is something I never had growing up.

“Often players in my age group would have hand me downs from boys teams and mens teams, our kit never fit and it was very rarely new. I’m delighted to see that changing thanks to the support from organisations like ScottishPower.”

Fellow Hibs star Ellis Notley added: “It’s been great to visit the training ground and see so many girls involved in football with Dunbar. When I was younger there were fewer girls getting the opportunity to play but now there’s so many teams competing week after week and it just shows how well the game is progressing.”

Dunbar Girls coach Fraser Docherty said: "We’ve got a great group of girls here, at least 22 of them training twice a week and playing at weekends.

“It’s great to get this kit award, we’re incredibly grateful for the high quality equipment, this really will go a long way to keeping girls participating in the sport for longer.

“At Dunbar, we really do want to get as many kids involved and on a football pathway as possible, keeping them active and involved in sport all the way through the age groups to senior level. That really is our aim and the support from parents, volunteers and local businesses like ScottishPower really does help us do that.”

The kit giveaway comes as ScottishPower works closely with both SWF and the SWPL to invest in supporting the continued growth of the women’s game.

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.

“That means working with our partners at SWF and the SWPL to help clubs and players overcome barriers to their growth and operation.

“By providing training kit and asking those players at the top of the game to nominate a community club to receive it, we’re making sure that everyone can benefit from this partnership, whether at the elite end of the game or those all-essential grassroots.”

ScottishPower is at the heart of communities across the country, whether it’s through the thousands of green jobs being created, the renewable power it generates or the secure, stable electricity it supplies - keeping the lights on from power to plug.

It is also a major employer in Scotland with a key focus on encouraging more women to consider STEM careers.

ScottishPower’s partnership joins parent company, Iberdrola, which has been promoting equality through sport since 2016, through competitions and federations in Spain and Brazil.

It supports more than 100 competitions, 32 of them as Iberdrola leagues, reaching an estimated 600,000 female athletes.