Girl's officer Toni Wellings organised the tournament looking to get more Year 9-11 girl pupils interested in the sport...
Sky Blues in the Community’s Women and Girl’s officer Toni Wellings organised a girls only football tournament for Year 9-11 pupils at the Coventry Powerleague on Wednesday.
The tournament forms part of the Female Football Development (FFD) project, funded by the Football League Trust and the Football Association, with the aim to get more girls aged 14+ taking part in footballing activity.
The FFD project sees Sky Blues coaches working with secondary schools, colleges, universities, community groups and female teams over a period of 10 weeks, offering coaching and football-related activities to increase participation in the sport.
Since September 2014 a total of 346 young women have taken part in the project, which has seen the community team working with 26 different schools, colleges, universities, teams or community groups.
Seven schools attended this week’s tournament, with over 60 girls taking part. The semi finalists were Bishop Ullathorne, Foxford A, Hartshill and Blue Coat Schools. Foxford A and Blue Coat battled it out in the final – with Blue Coat running out 5-0 winners.
Women and Girl’s Officer Toni Wellings said “The tournament was a fantastic afternoon. We know that for many of the girls, this was the first time that they had played in any kind of competitive football.
“We are also aware that prior to the Female Football Development project, lots of these girls had never even kicked a ball before – so we took that in to account with the tournament and made the rules as simple as possible.
“Everyone has had a fantastic afternoon and the feedback from the teachers and girls has been brilliant. It’s great to provide a positive experience of football for the girls and that can now be the catalyst for them to continue their involvement in the game.”
Alongside the secondary age girls football, Sky Blues in the Community are also running a primary age girl’s football centre. Every Tuesday from 5.30 - 7.00pm female Sky Blues coaches run a session at St Finbarr’s Sports and Social Club for girls aged 5-11, providing an introduction to football in a female-only environment.
For more information about the Coventry City women and girl’s programme, please contact Toni Wellings on 024 7678 6349.