Girls’ football is back in the game at King’s – namely thanks to the determination of one of our Sixth Form students!
Inspired by the incredible achievements of ‘The Lionesses’, Year 13 Prefect, Sophie Haydn-Slater, has made it her mission to get football back as a Games/Enrichment option for girls in Years 9-13, alongside the likes of hockey, netball, and rowing.
Our Director of Sport, Mr Meddle, and Football Coach, Mr Stevens, have been behind Sophie’s campaign since the day she launched it back in the Summer Term. However, they were a little dubious about how well supported training sessions would be.
Thanks to Sophie’s powerful promotion of girls’ football around school, she managed to rally the troops – so much so, that there have been three different training sessions every week so far this term!
Sophie, who joined King’s Ely Prep in Year 7, said: “I think it is vital that girls are given the same opportunities and choices as boys, especially when it comes to sport. The world is much more accepting in women’s professional sports now, so it almost seemed silly that we did not already have a girls’ football team in place.
“The school has been more than supportive, especially Mr Meddle, Mr Stevens, Miss Kyndt and Mrs Edwards. They saw my passion to put girls’ football on the sports curriculum, and they allowed me to reach out to many girls who wanted football or at least to give it a try. We now have three sessions each week, which are flexible around other clubs and commitments; this way everyone can attend at least one session that suits them!”
Around twenty-five girls are regularly attending the training sessions each week, and Sophie hopes that in the future, King’s will be able to compete against other schools’ girls’ football teams.
Sophie said: “We currently have around twenty-five girls attending training sessions, which I think is amazing considering how new this all is. I hope that these numbers will continue to grow over the years, as there are some really exceptional players in school.
“My hopes for the future are to take our team to matches against other schools and have a healthy competition. I believe that with encouragement and technique we will be able to achieve this goal, and that the hard work that the girls are putting into training will pay off. Overall though, it is about creating a welcoming and enthusiastic atmosphere for the team, so that we all have fun – winning would just be a bonus!”
Awesome efforts girls – we look forward to seeing how you all progress over the coming months!