England and Notts County defender Amy Turner believes Girls’ Football Week will help attract more even more female players to the game.
The FA initiative, which takes place until 11 October, is aimed at encouraging more education institutions to organise female-specific football sessions – from primary schools right up to universities.
And Turner, a part-time teacher who first got involved in the game by joining the Year 5 boys’ team at school, is delighted that girls now have more opportunities to play in same-sex teams.
She said: “Weeks like this can only be a good thing. There’s a big market for women’s football now, especially after the World Cup.
“At 16-18 I guess girls are deciding what they want to do, whether to play football, continue playing football or to give it up completely.
“When I was at school maybe a lot of girls were put off playing football because it would have meant playing with boys.
“That can be tricky when you’re at school because you can’t compare the rate at which boys grow and the rate at which girls grow.
“At that age it’s about enjoyment and if I’m honest, playing with the boys wasn’t a particularly nice experience. That’s probably why I’m the player I am today, because I got used to playing with boys.
“When you’re young that is when you start developing your love for the game and if you have a bad experience it can put you off for life.
Amy Turner made her England debut against Australia in March 2015
“But that doesn’t need to happen now and that’s great. Hopefully, with the help of weeks like this, things will keep on improving.”
Girls’ Football Week is delivered in partnership with Independent Schools FA, English Schools FA, Association of Colleges Sport and British Universities and Colleges Sport.
This year the programme has been extended to include primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities along with clubs and community groups who are also invited to participate.
In 2014, more than 2,000 people took part in the sessions across 80 institutions. It is aimed that this year 5,000 girls and women will play football during the week.
Further information, relevant to the appropriate age group, can be found at:
Primary schools: TheFA.com/Skills
Secondary schools: TheFA.com/Schools
Colleges: ecfa.org.uk/development/womens-football
Universities: bucs.org.uk/womensfootballoffer
Participating institutions are encouraged to complete a survey about their planned activity, which will also enter them into a draw to win a visit from an England player and a signed England shirt. The survey can be found here.
