Hundreds of girls get a kick out of football at Stratford Town

HUNDREDS of schoolgirls from the across the region descended on Stratford Town to take part in the FA and Barclays’ Let Girls Play Biggest Ever Football Session.

Club chairman Jed McCrory said more than 500 children poured into their Knights Lane ground where they were coached by young footballers at the club studying for their coaching badges. And he added that the day was so successful in spite of the sleet and snow that more sessions could be held in the future.

Mr McCrory said: “When you see so many children having such fun and playing football with smiles on their faces despite the snow then it reminds me why I became involved in sport. The youngsters came from nearly 50 different schools around the district and although they got soaked and had to dry out afterwards, it was a real feelgood moment for everyone at the club and we are now looking at staging more of these events during the year.

“Although we provided the facilities for free, some of the children had to pay for their transport so that is something we are looking at, trying to secure some funding to cover transport costs.”

Comments made by children following the event, which was split over two sessions, said how good it was to play football on a proper pitch and how much fun the sessions were.

A record 285,000 girls took part nationally on a day when prime minister Rishi Sunak announced that every girl in England is set to be given equal access to football and school sport as part of an all-sports pledge.

Currently only 67 per cent of all schools and 41 per cent of secondary schools offer football equally to girls in PE lessons and only 46 per cent of schools provide the same extracurricular opportunities as boys.