Having reaped the rewards of Girls’ Football Week in his role as Chichester City boss, Matt Wright couldn’t be a bigger advocate of the annual FA event.
Girls’ Football Week has grown from 2,000 people taking part across 80 different sessions in 2014 to 60,000 girls getting involved in 1,400 sessions last year.
Wright, a lecturer and coach at Chichester college, took over the reins at the West Sussex outfit over a decade ago and has been involved in Girls’ Football Week every year since its inception.
He said: “Things like Girls’ Football Week are great.
“It really is a great way to get involved in the game. I know a number of girls who only started playing the game during Girls’ Football Week and now they play week in, week out.
“As a club, we have supported Girls’ Football Week since day one and we will always run events for it.
“The projects that are run by The FA, from the SSE Wildcats centres to the super hubs, we have always got on board with them.
“And that has helped Chichester develop from having one female team towards the bottom of the pyramid to The FA Women’s Premier League with eight or nine youth teams coming up behind them.”
And Wright has encouraged any coach, parent, school, club or volunteer to get involved this year.
He added: “If any club or person has an opportunity to help and promote the female game I would absolutely urge them to do so.
“We have got to get more girls in the game at grassroots level, so why not give them a taste during Girls’ Football Week? Hopefully they will enjoy it and will keep on playing.
“We have all got to start somewhere.”
Girls’ Football Week takes place between 23-29 April.
Players: To take part in Girls’ Football Week visit TheFA.com/GirlsFootballWeek
Organisers: To host an event for Girls’ Football Week visit FAGirlsFootballWeek.com
