We are pleased to announce the signing of two former Boston United players for our women’s team, Amber Sharp and Holly Smith. Both players are just 16 years old, with Amber turning 17 in September.
Amber Sharp is a strong and physical striker, that has impressed Dale Houlston since the moment he saw her play her very first game of competitive football. Holly Smith is also a player familiar to Dale, a defensive player he worked with at Boston United RTC academy some years ago. Holly is described as a tenacious defensive player that can play on both the left and right-hand side.
Speaking about the new signings Dale Houlston told us: “This is another positive step forward for us, in finding young talented players that we feel we can bring into the first-team environment. I have spent a great deal of time watching local girls’ football in the county over the last couple of seasons, and both Holly and Amber are examples of two of the better players out there. They have trained with us for quite a few weeks now, and they have been very impressive”.
“I watched Amber play her very first game of football, and it amazes people when I tell them that this was only three- four years ago. I was involved with supporting and organising an inter-school tournament in Skegness. It was one of those typical games when most of the players really weren’t regular footballers and most were only representing the school because their teachers needed to field a team. One of those super events where we were trying particularly hard to encourage more and more girls to come and play. All of sudden Amber pitched up, towering in height above her peers, great on the ball and very physical with it. It was one of those moments when you sit up and start asking who that player is. And it was then that her PE teacher told me that she had never kicked a ball in a competitive match until that point. Obviously, I have kept track of her progress since then, and she has done very well with Boston United since then”.
“I have known Holly since she first started playing football as a small child, and I was involved in coaching her at under 12’s when she was at Boston United Girls’ RTC Academy. She is fairly small but has never let that be an issue for her on the pitch. She plays mostly in a defensive role, and she is extremely tenacious and has some good pace to go with it. She is a very confident girl too, and so I think that in terms of maturity, she won’t struggle in our environment. Again I have taken an interest in watching her development at Boston United, and I am really looking forward to working with her and watching her develop and grow into the open-age adult game. Holly featured for nearly 70 minutes in our game at Lincoln City reserves last week, and she did very well”.
“We also have a commitment from another young player that I am very keen to work with this season, but we aren’t able to sign her until midway through September when she turns 16. Emily Blyth is a local Cleethorpes girl that I’ve watched over a couple of seasons now. She is a really athletic attacking player, and she has done incredibly well whilst playing at Cleethorpes Town in their under 16’s team. She is incredibly confident and she scores goals too. She is also related to Ellie Wilson, and so she will be following in her cousin’s footsteps which is great isn’t it. We can’t wait to bring her in and get her involved, but unfortunately, until she is 16, she isn’t permitted to play in any open-age pre-season games. We have to respect that for safeguarding reasons, even though she is chomping at the bit to start getting some game time. But it’s another step forward, and I am happy that she has agreed to join us, as there were others interested in signing her”.
