With Cumbria being one of 52 Centre of Excellence’s across the country feeding into the England set up, the coming season is set to be an exciting year for the players and coaches involved. Last season, Cumbria were proud to have their first England call up with Sammie McGarry playing for England Under 15’s against the Netherlands as well as Rio Hardy getting the call to attend England training camps. Last season has set the bench mark for the Centre and this season it is hoped that girls will step up to the challenge and more players will be knocking on the door of the England teams.
Blackburn Rovers, Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Crewe Alexandra were the opponents at the festival with some great football being played and plenty of game time for the players after a good pre-season training programme. An appearance from Sue Smith, England International made the day even more memorable.
The players were selected following trials in June and will now be training twice a week and playing weekly fixtures against the above Centres as well as visiting Sunderland and Newcastle United. All areas of the County are represented with girls attending the Centre from all parts of Cumbria.
The developments in the grass roots game within the county has enabled the Centre of Excellence to become established; without the hard work from coaches and volunteers in the grass roots game the Centre would not have been possible. Therefore any England Internationals that the Centre produces will also be down to the dedication of their feeder clubs and Cumbria as a whole should be proud.
The Centre of Excellence is not just about developing players in Cumbria, the coaching team have also developed over the past three years. There are now more female coaches involved than ever before and with them all playing football at regional level they are also great role models for the girls. With the coaches provided with in-service training through the Centre of Excellence programme and The FA, the Centre should continue to develop over the coming years. There is an open invitation to FA Charter Standard Club teams to attend various training sessions throughout the season which in turn allows the Centre to help develop any coaches who are interested in further developing their coaching skills.
For more information on coaching or playing football in Cumbria, please contact Helen Aitchison, Girls and Women’s Football Development Officer on 01539 730946, Helen.Aitchison@WestmorlandFA.com