FOOTBALL mad girls in Lancashire were celebrating following the announcement of a £30,000 boost for the game from the Football Foundation, the UK's largest sports charity.
The cash boost to the Lancashire Sports Partnership will provide and extend opportunities for girls ages 10-14 across the county and will target over 140 schools in the region. The partnership hope that eventually over 1000 new players will be playing in regular county soccer festivals and attending professional coaching sessions in schools and clubs throughout Lancashire.
A particular emphasis will also be placed on creating further opportunities for girls with disabilities, from ethnic minorities and from areas of deprivation who have all too often felt excluded from the national game.
Joanne Moss of the Lancashire Sports Partnership said: "We are delighted with the award from Football Foundation. It will not only enable us to increase the number of opportunities for girls to play football across the County but will allow us to work closely with local clubs to extent their reach into the girls game.
"By 2005 with the support of all our partners, including the Football Foundation, we aim to have established a clear pathway though which girls can move from playing for fun at school to performing at the highest level."
The Football Foundation is dedicated to revitalising the grass roots of the game, constructing modern football facilities, developing football as a force for social cohesion and as a vehicle for education in communities throughout the country. Funded by the FA Premier League, The Football Association, Sport England and the Government, the Football Foundation is the nation's largest sports charity with a £53m budget going straight into the heart of football.
>Mandy Ayres, Director of Community Development at the Foundation, welcomed this latest boost for football in Lancashire: "The dramatic rise of the women's game means that football is now the most popular sport played by females in this country and the Football Foundation is delighted to be playing a major role in its development. Working with our colleagues in The FA and through groups such as the Lancashire Sports Partnership we are ensuring a bright future for the female game."
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>For further information contact Simon Taylor 020 7534 4280 or go to www.footballfoundation.org.uk
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