New girls-only football club launches in Vale of Glamorgan (From Barry And District News)

New girls-only football club launches in Vale of Glamorgan

4:30pm Friday 6th July 2012 in News

A NEW football club for girls has launched in the Vale of Glamorgan, hoping to benefit from an Olympic-inspired boom in the sport this summer.

The Vale Ladies & Girls Football Club has been set up thanks to a £1,500 Community Chest scheme grant, and the club is keen to attract girls aged seven to 16 to get involved in football.

The entire London 2012 Games will kick-off on July 25 when Great Britain’s women play New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and with such a huge event being played on Welsh soil there has never been a better time to promote women’s football locally.

The Barry-based Vale Ladies & Girls FC are the county’s only football club that is specifically for girls only, and they will be entering teams into the South Wales Girls Leagues.

Since receiving their Community Chest funding, the club has been really pro-active in developing links with local schools, visiting them to offer taster sessions, and were also involved in a recent girls’ football festival for primary school pupils.

Coach Luke Williams said: “We wanted to create the first girls-only club in the Vale as we believe there is huge potential for girls’ football to grow.

"We have already seen that there are a lot of talented girls in Vale schools who would enjoy playing regularly, and with women’s football being one of the Olympic sports that Welsh fans can really feel part of, I’m sure that this will help spark even more interest in the game.”

Vale Ladies & Girls FC’s under 10s, under 12s and under 14s teams train every Wednesday at 6pm on the grass pitches at the Colcot Sports Centre, while the under 16s train on Fridays. Training continues all year round including during the school holidays.

The Community Chest scheme is run locally by the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Sports and Play Development Team and agreed by a panel of volunteers with support from Sport Wales. The scheme has now been running for over a decade and recently awarded its 1,000th grant.

The scheme has invested a total of £599,257.71 into grass-roots sport locally, helping dozens of new sports clubs get up and running over the years and supporting established clubs to expand and provide high quality opportunities for local people of all ages.

The panel meets every three months, and the scheme can provide grants of up to £1,500 for a variety of purposes, including funding courses to improve coaching standards, buying new equipment, paying for marketing, coaching costs, and sports hall hire.

* To find out more about the Vale Ladies & Girls FC call Luke Williams on 07832 273688 or visit www.valegirlsfc.co.uk * To discuss a potential Community Chest application for your sports club or organisation call the Vale Council’s sports and play development manager Karen Davies on 01446 704793.