Jordan Parry: Pre-season, youth and transition

Connah’s Quay Nomads Women have just begun their pre-season, and manager Jordan Parry is full of excitement as he and his side aim to reach new heights in the 2024/25 season.

The Nomads Women’s first team and U19s team will play high-quality fixtures each week up until the end of August before the Genero Adran North season gets underway. This summer’s pre-season opponents include Tranmere Rovers, Aberystwyth Town, Stoke City, Vauxhall Motors, Wigan Athletic, Rhyl, Mossley Hill and Llangefni Town.

Jordan Parry has outlined the importance of pre-season matches and claims the high standards will always remain the same as The Nomads build up to the Genero Adran North campaign.

"I am really excited for pre-season this year." said Parry. "It is just as important as the previous years, especially now that we have transitioned to a younger group.

"We have kept the players we wanted to keep and everybody seems to be focused more than ever after coming so close to the league title last year. We are looking forward to implementing our style of play with tactics and game plans throughout the pre-season.

"For us staff, we are not going to be hugely bothered about results, it is purely to get minutes in the tank and try different things leading into September."

The preparation for the upcoming season has started better than ever before for Parry and his side as changes were made behind the scenes straight after the conclusion of the 2023/24 season.

New signings include teenagers Natasha Spearing, Keira Hardstaff and Nicole Samson, and goalkeeper Charlie Bolland, who returns to The Nomads for her second spell.

Not only has there been the arrivals of new players, there has also been a strengthened coaching department.

The introduction of Dan Roach and Andy Ellis as the new U19s management staff, the additions of Leighton Sumner, Mason Blackwell-Jones and John Davies as women’s first team coaches and the appointment of Tony Howard as U16s manager will all help the project succeed this season and for the future.

"We've done some real hard work before we started our pre-season." said Parry. "We needed to get some things in-house right before we cracked on. We got our recruitment spot on early doors and spoke to the players we wanted as soon as possible.

"All of our new coaches are going to be perfect assets to the team and the project, so the structure seems to be better than it ever has been. The players we have signed and the ones we retained from last season gives us a recipe for us to go and do well.

"The ambition of the women’s section has not changed. We always want to go and compete, but there is no pressure and all we want from next season is a top half finish.

"We have always had a stigma of pushing and challenging for titles, which we have done every year, but we are not looking to put any more pressure on this younger group.

"As a group of staff, all we want to do is just develop a young team of players who are committed week in and week out with a certain style of play and we are looking forward to doing that this season."

One of the notable changes on the pitch so far for The Nomads Women in pre-season is the change of captaincy. After the squad’s all-time record appearance maker Kylie Jones announced her retirement in June, Parry decided to give the armband to teenage forward Polly Wild-McGregor, who has all the leadership skills to be a passionate captain according to Parry.

Wild-McGregor recorded 19 goal contributions for The Nomads last season and our new captain is more than capable of producing more quality performances in front of goal in 24/25.

On Wild-McGregor becoming captain, Parry said: "We knew when selecting Polly, we would have a different style of captain to what we have had in the past, but in regards to setting the standard and committing to the project, this was an easy decision.

"She is an incredible human being and the most humble I have probably ever worked with. She keeps herself to herself and conducts herself in the right way to the squad.

"It is a pleasure to give Polly the captaincy. I discussed things with former captain Kylie Jones and we could not think of anyone better to give the armband to."

Last season, The Nomads Women U19s won the Genero Adran North U19s title in emphatic style, and their epic title victory was just a glimpse of how they have become role models over the past two years.

There are many girls within the Player Development Centre who look up to the senior squad, which features a host of younger players. Maturity is a key, psychological role in senior football and it is something that has been and will continue to be taught at The Nomads Women.

Being a role model catches the eye of Parry and his staff, and the 2024/25 Coleg Cambria scholarship programme will be a major part of how players will be able to do this. The programme includes three training sessions and weekly matchdays, which are all led by UEFA B and UEFA A licensed coaches. The programme also introduces players to a full-time balance between football and their education.

New players have joined the U16s and U19s sides for the upcoming season, so it is important the senior squad continue to be role models and demonstrate the high standards to everybody joining the club.

"We knew the younger players coming into the first team would mature and become role models." said Parry. "How they (the younger players in the first team) have conducted themselves and relayed the standards of what I expect in every session is amazing.

"Even walking into the clubhouse, it is important for us to have a real good team culture on and off the ball. The younger players in the women’s team have set a great standard of what type of person you need to be in that culture.

"The U19s have been preparing for the league in September and also the full-time scholarship programme next year. We are extremely excited to have the full group of 16-18 players participate in two training sessions a week, two matches a week and also game analysis, so we cannot wait to get going and develop these younger players."

View The Nomads Women’s full pre-season schedule here

Date Published: Tuesday, 16th July, 2024 - 9:05am by Adam Angerer