ACKWORTH Juniors FC have kicked-off their weekly sessions in the village at the Quaker School fields after being named a SSE Wildcats Football Centre.

The Saturday morning hour-long training offers girls aged 5-11 a chance to try football for the first time and provide regular opportunities to play.

All sessions are delivered by FA qualified coaches, providing a safe place for girls to try football for the first time and develop key skills.

Andy Coupland the club’s Girls Development Officer explained: “Ackworth Juniors FC have come a long way in a very short space of time in terms of girls’ football and it’s a real feather in our cap that we’ve been selected to host a SSE Wildcats football centre.

“Moving into its second full year, SSE Wildcats has attracted over 17,000 new girls to play the game for the first time, here at Juniors we have three girls teams playing weekly competitive league matches and there is a real buzz about the club with the way things are expanding week-on-week.

“We were thrilled when Ackworth Juniors FC were successful through our Football Association application to be named a SSE Wildcats Football Centre, we’ve only run a couple of sessions so far, but we’re delighted with the response so far from the girls taking part and those bringing them to the sessions.”

Juniors’ Girls Welfare Officer Phyl Stokes said: “We’re really encouraged by the number of new players the Saturday sessions have attracted so far. We’re here every Saturday – kicking-off at 9am – and encourage the girls to have fun while learning key footballing skills.

“Our sessions are structured to help make that first step of coming along and helping girls make friends, have fun and be active through football,” he added.

Lee Blackett, who also coaches the sessions, concluded : “We’d like to encourage more girls down to our weekly sessions, it’s not just about football, but general ball skills and improving hand-eye coordination. Now the weather has improved it’s a great way to kick-start the weekend.”