ITC FFD Sessions Saw 479 Involved In 2014/15
For more information on FFD session at Shrewsbury Town, please contact Shrewsbury Town In The Community by calling 01743 289177 EXT 216 or emailing community@shrewsburytown.co.uk."Football has an amazing power to break down all kinds of barriers.
"As well as getting hard to reach groups involved in the game our sustained approach to developing female participation is getting more women in key positions at professional Football League clubs and their Community Schemes.
"Furthermore with the success of the Lionesses at the World cup, we are looking to capitalise even more on the extra interest that this has provoked and get more girls benefitting from playing football." Nicol added:
Another success of the programme is that participation among minority ethnic groups in the FFD programme is over 20%.
"FFD sessions take place as lunch-time clubs and after-school clubs. These sessions are informal and give the girls plenty of time to socialise.
"With this approach we feel that we can ignite a passion for football for these girls and create a sporting habit for them while also looking at building on the need for girls football within the county, and look to build on our womens and girls pathway into the ladies team."
"We have had great success with the FFD session over the 2014/15 season. Aiden Wassell, Shrewsbury Town in the Community's health and inclusion officer, said:
479 girls have taken up football with Shrewsbury Town Football Club in 2014/15.
This is the first time that all four organisations have worked on a project of this kind. It was announced over the summer that due to the success of the first two years of the scheme more than £3.7m of joint FA and Sport England investment will be allocated to the programme by July 2016.
The programme is funded by The FA and Sport England and was launched in 2013 to get women and girls aged 14 and over to start, and continue, playing football using the reach Football League Trusts and Premier League to deliver at grassroots.
"Getting so many girls involved in the programme that are new to football and the massive retention rates shows the power that football clubs have in their communities.
"The programme focuses on having fun as well as the social and health benefits of playing football.
"This innovative approach has led to football clubs running brand new activities that appeal to girls who wouldn’t normally be interested in football such as soccercise and zumba fitness football, which are football based aerobics sessions." Nicol Meredith, female football officer with The Football League Trust, said:
Perhaps more importantly the figures also reveal that over 97% of the women and girls who have been introduced to football have continued to be involved.
Shrewsbury Town In The Community aims to get women and girls playing the game.
The Football League Trust's Female Football Development programme (FFD) is run by 55 clubs across the country.
Over 30,000 women and girls have starting playing football in the past two years with their local Football League clubs, a report revealed this week.