More than 200 U-16 girls from 26 Premier League and Football League clubs from across the country will take part in special 5-a-side tournament at Wembley’s Powerleague from 8.30-13.00, prior to the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final on Saturday 14th May.
Saturday’s event is the pinnacle of this year’s programme, with the ongoing hard work and commitment of the girls being celebrated by an invite to this fantastic event. Once the Tournament has ended, the girls will then have the chance to watch their heroes and catch all of the action from the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final in Wembley Stadium, just next door.
This one-off competition at Wembley Stadium is spearheaded by The FA, Sport England, the Premier League and The Football League Trust. It rewards those clubs and teams who run training sessions delivered by the Premier League and Football League.
The sessions are part of a three-year Football Participation Programme, aimed at driving female participation in football, which has already seen over 60,000 girls, aged 14 and over, take part in a range of footballing activities, since its launch.
In addition, the highly successful FA Girls’ Football Festival will be at Wembley to challenge the skills of fans with a variety of innovative interactive equipment including Batak boards, Speed Cages, an inflatable target shoot and Quickfeet trials. To further enhance the festival experience, there will be music, hair braiding and face painting taking place throughout the morning’s competitions.
Created in collaboration with Continental Tyres the festivals provide an exciting, interactive football experience for both those new to the game and regular players. So far more than 35,000 girls have taken part in The FA Girls’ Football Festivals in association with Continental Tyres since 2011.
Oxford United’s Captain, Katherine Nutman and her teammate Lauren Haynes will be attending to join in with the girls’ activities and answer any questions the girls may have. Also in attendance are Referee Ambassadors Joanna Stimpson and Mary Harmer, delivering a referee workshop while Charlotte Lade will be delivering a freestyle workshop.
FA director of football participation and development, Kelly Simmons, said: “Our festivals, run in partnership with Continental Tyres, have been a huge success since they launched.
“One of our big areas of focus is getting more girls to play football and we are grateful to both The Premier League and The Football League Trust for encouraging and supporting their Clubs to participate in both our participation programme and in this special festival.”
“We also know the power of role models and I am sure that going to watch the SSE Women’s FA Cup final in the stadium, watching an exciting game of football and seeing so many excellent players will be a real inspiration to the girls.”
Guy Frobisher, Marketing Director UK, of Continental Tyres said: “The FA Girls Football Festivals with Continental Tyres continues to grow year on year, giving tens of thousands of young girls from around the country the chance to get involved with the sport. At Continental Tyres we are extremely proud that 2016 is our 6th year partnering with the FA and undoubtedly is set to be the biggest and best so far. Who knows, perhaps in a few years’ time we may see a number of our festival attendees playing for their country”.
