Ten SSE Wildcats Girls’ Football Clubs will be opening in Lancashire this spring, providing girls across the county with increased opportunities to play football as part of a new nationwide participation programme.

The programme will see 200 Clubs opening throughout England, each run in conjunction with the local County FA and their key partners.

The move will provide girls aged from five to 11 with regular opportunities to play football and take part in organised sessions in a fun, engaging and safe environment over a minimum 16-week period.

The project is an integral part of The FA’s objective to double girls’ football participation by 2020 and has been established in a joint partnership between The FA and SSE, supporters of girls’ football participation and sponsor of the SSE Women’s FA Cup.

The new SSE Wildcats Girls’ Football Clubs in Lancashire will be taking place at:

• Accrington and Rossendale College (Twitter: @accross_sport)
• Barrow FC in the Community (Twitter: @bafccommunity)
• Bolton, Bury and District Football League (Twitter: @theBBDFL)
• Burnley FC in the Community (Twitter: @BurnleyFC_com)
• Chorley School Sports Partnership (Twitter: @ChorleySSP)
• Fleetwood Town Juniors (Twitter: @FleetwoodTwnJrs)
• Hindley Juniors FC (Twitter: @HindleyJuniors)
• Pendle School Sports Partnership (Twitter: @Pendlesgo)
• Rochdale Ladies AFC (Twitter: @DaleSportsTrust)
• Total Soccer Centre (Myerscough) (Twitter: @tsoccercentre)

The SSE Wildcats Girls’ Football Clubs will run in the spring and through to the summer on a weekly basis, either at weekends, after school or during the evening.

Parents and carers who attend with the girls will also have the optional opportunity to take part in football-related fitness sessions at the same time as the girls.

For further details, please:

• contact Lancashire FA’s Women & Girls Football Development Officer Michael Nadal via email (michael.nadal@lancashirefa.com), by phone (01772 624000) or through Twitter (@LFAWG)
• contact the centres directly via their Twitter accounts, linked above

John Stewart, SSE’s Director of Human Resources, said: “We’re delighted to support The FA in setting up these centres and helping to deliver high-quality coaching sessions across the country to the next generation of female footballers.

“At SSE we are extremely proud to be a fundamental part of supporting the grassroots game.

“This is a key reason for our sponsorship of the SSE Women’s FA Cup; not only are we focussed on achieving greater awareness of the sport at an elite level but, equally as important, we are creating more opportunities and relentlessly encouraging more girls to get involved in football.”

Roger De Nobrega, Chief Executive at Lancashire FA, said: “We’re delighted to have the support from The FA in setting up 10 girls’ mini-soccer centres across Lancashire.

“Our aim is to double participation in the female game over the next four years and we see these centres as the first step to achieving this providing a pathway for girls to play and learn new skills in a fun and enjoyable environment.

“Lancashire FA is committed to supporting the female game and building on the success we have achieved in the County.”