girls football | Team Grassroots

Lionesses HERe to Play Fund

GRF Admin — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 08:45:12 +0000

Surbiton High School win the Utilita Girls Cup at Wembley Stadium

GRF Admin — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 13:50:34 +0000

Players from Surbiton High School have won the once in a lifetime opportunity of lifting a trophy at Wembley Stadium, after coming out victorious in the Utilita Girls Cup.

Representing their local EFL club AFC Wimbledon, Surbiton defeated Trinity School, representing Carlisle United, 2-1 in the final, which took place in front of a boisterous crowd ahead of the Papa Johns Trophy Final.

Student Coco Williams Everett scored twice to lead AFC Wimbledon to victory. She said: “It feels amazing. Not many people get the chance to play at Wembley, so it’s been an incredible opportunity! It’s something I’ll remember forever.”

Zak Elbekri, Head of Football at Surbiton High School, added: “To get to this stage is an achievement in itself, but to win this time adds a bit extra to the experience. Playing at a venue like Wembley is incredible and an experience they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”

The players were presented the Girls Cup trophy by former England international Fara Williams. She said: “The competition is fantastic. The opportunity for any young player to play in a Cup Final at Wembley is unbelievable and this is a fantastic occasion for the girls to experience.”

In partnership with the EFL, the Utilita Girls Cup is a national tournament which sees some 6,000 girls playing at local and then regional stages. Schools compete to represent their EFL side on the national stadium’s pristine pitch in front of thousands of fans ahead of the Papa Johns Trophy Final.

Inspiring children to be active, healthy and develop a strong sense of teamwork, the Utilita Girls Cup celebrates the beautiful game at the heart of communities around the country. The Utilita Kids Cup runs alongside the girls’ with over 12,000 children competing for their chance to play at Wembley Stadium, falling ahead of EFL Play-Off Finals in May.

To find out more about the Utilita Girls Cup, and how your school could play its part next year go towww.efl.com/clubs-and-competitions/utilita-kids-girls-cup/

THE FA LAUNCHES SHOOTING STARS PROGRAMME IN OVER 1,200 PRIMARY SCHOOLS ACROSS ENGLAND

GRF Admin — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 10:57:59 +0000

The FA’s Shooting Stars programme has launched in primary schools across England – with the aim of inspiring girls to get active and learn the fundamentals of football.

Inspired by Disney storytelling and produced in collaboration with the Youth Sport Trust and the National Literacy Trust, Shooting Stars takes the form of two programmes: The FA’s Shooting Stars Active Play Through Storytelling inspired by Disney and The FA’s Shooting Stars Girls’ Football Club inspired by Disney.

Using storytelling from Disney and Pixar’s 2018 superhero movie Incredibles 2 and the 1992 animated version of Disney’s Aladdin, ‘Active Play Through Storytelling inspired by Disney’ aims to capture Key Stage 1 girls’ imaginations while developing their fundamental movement and speaking and listening skills. Developed in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, these sessions also provide the opportunity to achieve the learning objectives which are based on the national curriculum for Key Stage 1 English and PE.

‘Shooting Stars Girls’ Football Club inspired by Disney’ is targeted at girls in Key Stage 2 and uses the storytelling inspiration of the animated Disney TV series Guardians of the Galaxy to advance their journey into a girls-only after school club, where they will learn basic footballing skills while engaging in imaginative play.

The FA’s Shooting Stars initiative is available in over 1,200 primary schools in the first year but the ambition is to increase this number year-on-year. It is an integral part of The FA’s ‘Gameplan for Growth’ strategy which aims to double female football participation by 2020.

Physical and online training resources have been created for the 1,200 schools taking part. The online resources, hosted at GirlsFootballinSchools.org, allow every school across England to sign up and deliver the two Shooting Stars training programmes.

Baroness Sue Campbell, FA director of women’s football, said: “By engaging in the magic of Disney storytelling, the Shooting Stars programme allows girls to develop holistically whilst falling in love with sport, motivating them to participate in physical activity and football.

“These sessions are engaging, help girls develop their confidence and leadership skills and most importantly inspire them to get active at school and at home.

Hopefully, this provides a positive starting point to a girls journey in football whereby she can go on to attend a fun football offer with Wildcats or a competitive offer in a mini soccer club.”

England legend Karen Carney added: “It’s great to see initiatives like this launching and becoming more established in schools across the country, something I didn’t have as a kid growing up.

“Football provides you with so many benefits – from teamwork and building friendships to physical literacy and confidence, and this programme will really help instil that into the girls who take part.

“The more girls we can get participating and fall in love with football, the better and who knows, this programme may even unearth Lionesses of the future.”

During the pilot phase of the programme, research conducted by The FA and the Youth Sport Trust found that the Disney resources were engaging, memorable and familiar to the girls participating whilst practitioners felt that the Disney element added significantly to the resource and supported their delivery.

The research also found that extending the sessions beyond football enabled participants to develop a wider skillset and led to self-reported improvements from girls, coaches and parents, including:

Physical: Girls get active and enjoy rising to the challenge week on week. Parents and teachers reported sessions are physically tiring
Social: Opportunity to work with friends as well as girls outside of their own friendship group, in turn improving communication and teamwork skill
Technical: Coaches reported improvement week on week of technical skills during the drills
Psychological: Girls self-reported an improvement in their confidence levels.

The FA and Disney have a long-term partnership that aims to increase the role of football in girls’ lives up and down the country.

The FA Girls Football Week 16/7 – 6/8 Are you taking part?

GRF Admin — Sun, 02 Jul 2017 14:52:52 +0000

FA Girls’ Football Week is a national campaign aimed at raising the profile of female football and supporting the FAs aim of doubling the number of women and girls playing football by 2020.

Over 130,000 girls took part in sessions delivered in schools, universities, colleges, clubs, community groups and other organisations across the country in 2016.

Find a session
Visit www.FAGirlsFootballWeek.com
Enter your postcode
Select an activity near you

During FA Girls’ Football Week the whole country gears up to encourage football activities for girls which can include playing, training or even just learning more about the beautiful game.

Organisations can register their on-going activities as part of the week, or maybe even start something brand new to kick-start girls’ football.

The week is a great opportunity to showcase female football at every level and inspire new players and volunteers.
Many of the activities delivered during the week are based on our online guides, which provide advice on ensuring all activities are fun and safe for everyone involved, maximizing enjoyment and minimising risk.

This year FA Girls’ Football Week will run between 16 July and 6 August to coincide with England’s involvement in Euro 2017.

It will be an opportunity to support the Lionesses’ Euro campaign and get even more girls playing football this summer.

To get involved please register your activity at FAGirlsFootballWeek.com and tell us your plans for your Euro celebrations.

Once registered you will have access to all of our online resources.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Info@FAGirlsFootballWeek.com.

SSE WILDCATS GIRLS’ FOOTBALL CLUBS

GRF Admin — Thu, 04 May 2017 20:38:37 +0000

Have fun, make friends, play football

The Football Association and SSE have teamed up to launch a new initiative in 2017, SSE Wildcats, designed to inspire girls aged between 5-11 to be involved in the sport.

SSE Wildcats Girls’ Football Clubs provide girls with regular opportunities to play football and take part in organised sessions in a fun and engaging environment created exclusively for girls. 200 clubs have been established across England throughout the spring and summer.*

The sessions take place on a weekly basis, either after school or at weekends, subject to the local organiser. They will provide a safe environment where girls with no football experience can; have fun engaging with sport, develop fundamental skills, try a variety of sessions, learn new things and create foundations for a lifelong love of sport.

Alongside the football for girls activities, there will also be opportunities for the attending parents, carers and siblings to engage with sport in ‘Family Sessions’, e.g. Soccercise/Walking football at the same time.

Each SSE Wildcats club will be run in conjunction with local County FAs and utilising qualified coaches and local facilities to offer girls a location nearby where they can get involved.

SSE Wildcats has been established in partnership with SSE, supporters of girls’ football participation and sponsor of the SSE Women’s FA Cup, with support from UEFA, FIFA and The Youth Sport Trust.