Four days before the victorious Lionesses retained the UEFA European Championships last month, girls representing professional football clubs across the country travelled to England’s training centre at St George’s Park for an experience of a lifetime.
They were taking part in this year’s Premier League Kicks Cup girls tournament, an event that celebrates the year-round work of Premier League Kicks and highlights how the programme provides opportunities for young females to play the game.
Premier League Kicks, the Premier League’s flagship community programme, sees clubs across England and Wales run free weekly football sessions and positive activity to engage and support young people.
The teams were able to follow in the footsteps of their Lionesses heroes as they wore the kit of their professional football club side and took part in fixtures refereed by Premier League, English Football League and Women’s Super League match officials.
One of our participants, Gracie, who attended the event said:
“I joined Premier League Kicks at the start of last season. It’s fun. It’s engaging. I’ve got so many mates there.
“The coaches are so nice and so respectful. I feel that it’s rubbing off on me. I’m a lot kinder, a lot nicer, a lot more respectful because they’re showing respect to me. It’s a really good programme because it’s so inclusive, everyone’s welcome.
“I have never done anything like playing at St George’s Park before. It’s so big! With all the players that have been here, I’m so excited. I didn’t think I was that good to play here but maybe I am!
“It is so important to have opportunities like this for girls’ football. Sometimes you get mocked a lot for being a girl footballer so events like this really raises awareness so more girls will get involved.”
Find out more about our Premier League Kicks Programme & get involved:
I’m often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has actually peaks my interest. I’m going to bookmark your web site and maintain checking for brand spanking new information.