On Sunday 11^th August at SGP Thorncliffe we launched our first of many ‘beginner girl festivals’. The festival partnered with 5 Wildcat centres across the county and also invited girls who were outside of the programme to join in and be part of a wildcat centre for the day.

The aim of the event is to give girls an opportunity to play football in a festival environment which involves a day full of fun and football. This event also gives us a chance to mix current wildcat participants with girls who are not involved into the programme. By doing this we give girls the opportunity to experience Wildcats with a centre that is nearby to where they live. Through creating this pathway we hope to encourage more girls into the game as well as supporting our current wildcat centres.

Overall the day was a great success and we are looking forward to creating many more of these festivals in the new season. We would also like to thank Sheffield United Community Coaches who run the carousel of activities and games that were perfect for aims of the event.

Mike Drummond, Youth Development Officer

Throughout the summer the Wildcats programme has been growing from strength to strength with 38 centres actively running across Sheffield & Hallamshire. Wildcats was an initiative set up by The FA to give girls an opportunity to experience football in an all-girl environment. The design of the programme gives girls an opportunity to play football, have fun, and make friends in a non-competitive environment. Wildcats is a brilliant way in allowing young girls the chance to experience football for the first time in a positive environment. By doing this it is much more likely to keep girls in the game for a longer period of time.

We look forward to creating more of these festivals in the future to give girls from across the county a chance to experience a football festival format with the values from the Wildcat Programme.

For more information about the Wildcats programme please contact Mike.Drummond@sheffieldfa.com.

http://www.sheffieldfa.com/players/youth/wildcats