Girls Football Takes Off In Northumberland
The ‘Northumberland Rural 5's League’, a girl’s football 5-a-side league has just completed their inaugural season, which is a significant achievement for the county.
This was established in May 2007 in North Northumberland to provide competitive football opportunities for local girls aged 14 and below, with clear pathways to the Northumberland Girls League and 11-a-side CountyLeague.
Initial interest in girls football grew in North Northumberland after coaching courses were delivered through the Football Association’s ‘3 Lions courses’. With the nearest competitive league over 40 miles away in Cramlington, the problem of transport for rural teams was highlighted and with the demand identified, the notion of a rural football league for girls transpired.
Organised and delivered by Katy Taylor, the North Northumberland Community Football Coach and Nicola Hepworth, Northumberland Sport’s Women & Girls Football Development Officer with support from the Northumberland Football Association, the Football Foundation, Sport England, North Country Leisure Alnwick and Alnwick District Sports Council, the Rural 5’s League has gone from strength to strength and now has six under 12 and three under 14 teams competing on a regular basis. This has also resulted in a committee being established with each club represented to sustain and increase further participation in the league.
Teams competing in the new league included Lowick FC, Belford Juniors, FC Amble, Longhoughton Rangers and Wooler FC and all the matches were played on Saturday mornings at AlnwickLindisfarneMiddle School, a central venue for teams.
Nicola Hepworth said “This year has been a tremendous success for girl’s football in North Northumberland and demonstrates the demand is there for girl’s football if quality opportunities are provided. I would like to thank all the teams who entered this year and congratulate Longhoughton Jewels and Sapphires on winning the inaugural Rural 5’s U12 and U14 Shields respectively. We now want to build on this success and attract more players and teams to drive up participation in the county, whilst creating more competitive, exciting opportunities for girls. Myself and Katy ( Taylor) along with other local coaches will shortly be visiting local schools soon to recruit more players for the leagues for next year.”
A recent Football Foundation funding application has also been successful for the expansion of the Rural 5’s league which will include further funds for club & coach development and player recruitment. There are also plans to establish a Rural 5’s league in the West Tyne area, where access to competitive girl’s leagues remains a challenge.
Plans are now being finalised for next season’s Rural 5’s leagues and fixturees with a Fun Day also organised for 7 September 2008 at Lowick FC. Anybody interested in attending the Fun Day or entering a team for next season’s Rural 5’s leagues should contact Nicola Hepworth.
