The men may have gone out of the World Cup but one England star visited a Cornish football club with a clear message: “Bring on the girls.”
Liskeard Junior Football Club were proud to welcome along Sue Smith, one of the top players in the England ladies team, to run some training sessions with their Under-12 and Under-14 girls teams.
Sue went through a warm up that she does with England and then really tested the girls’ ball skills with some fun and innovative drills.
Sue said: “I thought the day was excellent, the girls’ commitment and dedication was a pleasure to see! It was nice to see so many girls enjoying football and being successful at it!”
The event took months of planning by Liskeard coaches Ian Woodhouse and Adam Sibley to get such a huge star to grace the pitch and provide so much inspiration for the girls.
Adam said: ‘It was such an amazing night to have arguably the biggest name in ladies football here at Liskeard. I can’t imagine there are many other youth teams in the South West that have had an England player turn up at their training session.’
It was another mark of success for a team which until recently was battling to survive. Two years ago Adam and Ian struggled each week to field enough players to play a game but now there are three teams going into next season – an Under-12, Under-14 and Under-15 team – with a total of nearly 30 girls playing football. Their efforts were rewarded by the Under-12s winning the County Championship last season.
Sue said: “I admire how Adam and Ian have progressed from six girls up to the amount that turned up to the event.”
At the end of the evening she answered questions and even signed autographs and posed for photos.
Adam said: “Liskeard Junior Football Club can’t thank Sue enough for what she has done for the club and the inspiration she has passed on to so many of our stars of tomorrow. The evening just went to show how far girls football has come in Liskeard.”
The club is looking to compete strongly at all levels next season. With that in mind they are currently on the lookout for new players for the Under-12 girls team. If you are interested in joining, call Ian Woodhouse on (07815) 860630.
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