The FA and Tesco will host a Girls' Football Week from 22 June.
The FA and Tesco, the official women’s and girls’ football partner, are embarking on a joint drive to encourage girls to take up football.
The initiative will see a Girls’ Football Week being held between Monday 22 June to Sunday 28 June, with Tesco using its stores to promote nine regional events where girls can join in football ‘taster’ sessions and pick up information on joining clubs in their area.
Clubs are also being encouraged to hold open days and training sessions during the same week, so girls can sign up to play football for next season.
England Women’s international players will attend regional events, along with England Women's Head Coach Hope Powell.
"Women’s and girls’ football is the No.1 female team sport in the country," Powell said, "but we need to bring through the next generation of players and the Girls’ Football Week is a vital component in this work.
"To any girl who has not played the game before, the main message is ‘just come and give it a go'. Until you do, you won’t realise how much fun football can be."
The main regional events will be hosted by the County FAs of Birmingham, Essex, London, Lancashire, West Riding, Hampshire, Durham, Nottingham and Somerset, linked into major stores in the Tesco network. Participants in the week’s activities will receive their own FA Tesco Certificate and giveaways, as well as having a chance to enter competitions to win exclusive prizes.
Click here for further details on these nine regional events
Tesco is in its third year of supporting The FA’s efforts to develop girls’ football – they also partner the hugely-successful FA Tesco Skills programme, aimed at five to eleven-year-old children. As their chairman Sir Terry Leahy comments:
"One of our core messages is to encourage a healthy lifestyle, so we’re delighted to be promoting a Girls’ Football Week to drive further participation in a great aerobic sporting activity, such as football."
The week also has the full backing of The FA’s Director of Football Development, Sir Trevor Brooking.
"We published a four-year development strategy for women’s and girls’ football towards the end of last year, and there is a now an excellent national infrastructure in place to get girls into football – and then develop a pathway for them, so they can maximise their potential," he said.
"The Girls’ Football Week is one of many ways we are taking the game to a new audience. Who knows, some of the girls who take part may one day be at the same stage as Hope Powell’s current team – preparing to play in the UEFA Women's Euro 2009™ in Finland later this year."
To find out more about the FA and Tesco Girls’ Football Week, please visit www.TheFA.com/girlsfootball