Three Rotary clubs in Surrey have joined forces to sponsor a girls’ football team.
The Rotary clubs of Dorking, Dorking Deepdene and Ashtead have lent their support to Mole Valley Girls Football Club, under the banner of Mole Valley Rotary.
The deal will provide £1,500 this season and next, with a possibility of continuing into the future. In return, the football club is sporting the Rotary logo on the shirt sleeves of each team, and also on other items of kit.
Although the football club has worn the Rotary logo on their sleeves for most of this season, around two dozen Rotary members were at Meadowbank Stadium in Dorking to officially kick-start their sponsorship.
They watched in delight as the ladies’ team, who are second in the Surrey County Women’s League, convincingly beat third-placed rivals Wandgas 5-0.
Footballers gather with Rotary members after securing sponsorship deal
John Thom, from Rotary Dorking, said that the idea of working with the football club was to showcase the range of youth competitions and opportunities which Rotary offers to a wider audience than the schools they currently work.
He said: “Women’s football is thriving throughout Great Britain, and Mole Valley Girls Football Club is a prime example of the enthusiasm and talent looking for an outlet.
“We are thrilled to be able to help them go further faster, to promote themselves better and more widely, as well as improve and attract new players.
“If we can do this, by showing the good which Rotary can do for all ages, then we will have been faithful to our key maxim of service above self.
“We are keen to correct the common image held of Rotary as ‘older men meeting for lunch’, and also introduce Rotary to a younger audience of the girls’ parents, who we see as prime Rotary 2 material.”
A grant from the Rotary District 1145 Marketing & Development team allowed the three Rotary clubs to provide pitch-side banners and a feather flags promoting the sponsorship.
Mole Valley Girls FC is a girls-only football club, catering for girls of all abilities from age seven upwards, with teams competing in the Surrey County Women and Girls League from under-10 to under-18 level, and now with an over-18 ladies’ team.
