Kent FA welcomed over 250 players from across London, Bedfordshire, Northampton and Suffolk to take part in a Player Development Centre festival in the county last Wednesday.
All players enjoyed a day full of friendly, age-appropriate football in the three age groups at the event playing in the U-11, U-13 and U-15s’ games.
The festival provided a great experience for the young players to have some half-term football with lots of skill on display, enjoyed in a friendly and inclusive environment
Liz Symons, Kent FA Football Development Officer, was delighted with how the day went. “A lot of hard work has gone into facilitating a festival of the size and quality we enjoyed. It was fantastic for Kent FA to host such a festival bringing a number of Player Development Centres from across the country together to have an enjoyable afternoon and play some high quality football.”
“Whilst the weather could have dampened spirits, the enthusiasm of all the players was brilliant. I thank them, their coaches, parents and guardians for the part they played in making it such an impressive festival and I am delighted they all had a wonderful time.”
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Players at the festival were also treated to surprise guest appearance from WSL and England player, Dunia Susi , who popped by to see how the girls were getting on.
Ahead of England’s international against Germany, Dunia was able to talk to players about her own development and career, as well as encourage the next generation to be a part of history on Sunday 23rd November at Wembley Stadium.
Liz added her thanks to Dunia; “It was a real treat for our players to meet Dunia. To have a full-time, international footballer at the event inspires young players by showing them the opportunities available to them. To learn over 33,000 people have already booked their tickets for the international is fantastic. I know Dunia met several people today who have already purchased their tickets and I’m sure having met her, they’ll be several more fans planning to make the trip.”
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“It’s going to be a brilliant occasion to have England Women playing at Wembley, the accumulation of years of hard work. I’m delighted so many Kent teams have brought hundreds of tickets and are planning to use the event for a club day out. My thanks go to all the relevant leagues for granting our clubs the chance to re-arrange their fixtures in order to attend the match. We will all continue to make a difference at grass roots level but to see such development at the elite end of the game is extremely encouraging for both the girls and women’s game.”
Finally Liz extended her thanks to Kent Women’s Cup and Plate sponsors She Kicks Magazine who arranged for all players to go home with an issue of their magazine as well as an exclusive subscription offer: “To be able to add the She Kicks goodies into the day was the icing on the cake. Part of the work going on within the women’s game revolves around publicity and exposure. All the girls were delighted to get their hands on the magazine, familiarise themselves with players they recognise – and who knows they may even make the cover one day!”
“I’d also like to thank our local leading women’s team Gillingham Ladies, who kindly provided us with a ticket for each player to their match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. I hope the girls took the opportunity to go to Priestfield Stadium to see a women’s game in such an outstanding facility within our own county.”
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
