Tag: girls football

ESFA Internationals, featured

English Schools’ FA sees record number of Girls’ entries as England Women soar to EURO heights

The English Schools' FA

Girls’ Football continues to grow in schools across England as the ESFA receive record entries for their 2022/23 National Schools’ Cup competitions

This record breaking announcement coincides with the Lionesses’ continued success in the Women’s Euros 2022, where a trio of former England U15 Schoolgirls’ players are thriving on the international stage.

The ESFA has seen the number of girls’ competition entries across the U12 – U18 age groups grow steadily since the introduction of girls’ competitions in 1995. This season, the number has reached its highest level yet with 1,863 teams – up by 160 teams last season, meaning around 28,446 schoolgirls will experience competitive levels of schools’ football in the 2022/23 season.

As advocates for the girls’ game, the ESFA provide a plethora of competitions and opportunities for pupils to get involved in, from their U11 Girls’ Primary Competitions, to their U18 Women’s Super League. The ESFA focused on Girls’ Football for Schools’ Football Week (SFW) in February 2022, which provided an opportunity for over 57,000 schoolgirls to experience some level of schools’ football activity during the campaign.

Thanks to the representative football structure in place across ESFA County and District Schools’ FA’s, the National Governing Body for Schools’ Football also runs an U15 England Schoolgirls’ squad each season. It is fantastic to see former England Schoolgirls, Georgia Stanway, Alessia Russo and Hannah Hampton, taking centre stage as part of the Lionesses’ squad in this year’s Women’s EUROs.

Stuart Botham, ESFA Chair 22/23 said, “The ESFA is delighted to have reached a new record-breaking number of girls’ National Cup entries for the 22/23 season, it is fantastic to see the enthusiasm for girls’ football continue to grow, season after season. The ESFA is very proud of its International Programme for both the U15 Girls’ and U18 Boys’ teams – and I hope that trialists for this season’s Schoolgirls’ squad are inspired by former players, Georgia, Alessia and Hannah, taking the women’s game by storm and heading to Wembley this Sunday.

The ESFA prides itself in striving to create an inclusive environment for all children to have an opportunity to participate in football activity, competitively or otherwise. We hope that this year’s entrants will be inspired by the Lionesses’ success and the ESFA’s opportunities and that they will achieve their goals, strive for improvement and, most importantly, build strong and lasting friendships and relationships through their love of the sport.”

2022 is already proving to be an inspirational year for Women’s football and the Lionesses’ progress to the finals will create yet another platform to engage with young schools’ football players. The Association wishes all the very best to the England Women’s squad for their Final fixture on Sunday.

The World of Schools' Football

ESFA Celebrating International Women’s Day

The English Schools' FA

In a time where Girls’ Football is being promoted and encouraged more than ever, International Women’s Day provides the perfect opportunity to highlight the advances the ESFA has seen in girls’ football over the last 26 years.

The Association began running specific National Cup competitions for girls in 1996 and now offers 13 National Competitions for girls’ teams from U11 – U18 Super League, including District and County representative competitions. Alongside these opportunities for girls’ teams to be crowned National Champions each season, the ESFA also boasts an England U15 Schoolgirl squad, which, after a gruelling trials process, gives 18 top-flight players the opportunity to represent their country each season.

Holly Tickle, 21/22 England U15 centre back said about her opportunity to be part of the England squad “There was so many girls at the trials at such a high standard, that I was really happy to be selected. Playing schools’ football gives you the opportunity to meet new people, have new opportunities and meet new coaching staff.” Ella Baker, England U15 winger added “It’s nice playing with another group of people, other than your usual football team and making new friends.” when asked what advice she would give to other girls thinking of trialing for representative football she said “Just keep going. It’s crazy how much you can do, if you just keep at it”

Through its huge network of volunteers, the ESFA’s County and District Schools’ FAs also offer local footballing opportunities for girls in a variety of formats, right across the country.

Whilst girls are able to play in mixed squads up to the age of U18, the ESFA has created and maintained opportunities for girls to represent their school, district or county in teams dedicated purely to the development of the girls’ game. The current 2021/22 season has seen a record number of girls’ teams io ESFA competitions, creating opportunities for around 30,000 players to take part in activity.

The ESFA’s Schools’ Football Week campaign, in association with Haier, which ran from 7th – 13th February 2022 had a specific focus on girls’ football and encouraged schools that took part to create and amplify activity specifically with this focus in mind. The campaign saw over 57,000 girls have access to activity generated for their needs with over 300 schools stating that they would like to regularly run girls’ football.

The Association’s newly launched Hotshots intra-school campaign will provide a new opportunity for more schools to embrace intra-schools football and will hopefully provide a route for more girls’ activity to be prioritised within schools over the coming weeks. The ESFA is hopeful that, leading on from February’s Schools’ Football Week, ESFA Hotshots will create an extended platform for schools to further their participation in girls’ football.

Andrea Chilton, CEO of the English Schools’ FA said “As the National Governing Body for Schools’ Football, it has always been a priority for us to ensure that football is available to be accessed by all children regardless of gender, age, ability or geographical location. We have been delighted with the numbers of schools we’ve seen return to National Cup competitions, post-pandemic and to see the record breaking number of girls’ teams participating in activity in 21/22 has been a real boost to us. It’s as important to us now, as it’s always been to ensure we create opportunities to develop the girls’ game across all age groups and ensure that we continue to provide high quality experiences, competitive or otherwise, to engage girls in football and share with them the many benefits it brings to school children”