The newly formed girls' under-12 team chose January 13 as the date for their first training session, and were delighted when 24 youngsters attended.

A considerable amount of work has gone on behind the scenes and the recent school-club link involving Kirkbie Kendal School and Wattsfield Youth has proved a huge success.

Girls from local primary schools and Kirkbie Kendal School were invited to train with coaches from Wattsfield Youth and over 70 girls participated in the programme.

A growing focus for the FA is developing sustainable partnerships between schools and local Charter Standard clubs to provide a clear pathway so young people can continue playing football.

Organising structured girls' football is an important part of the Charter Standard Community Club Award in which Wattsfield Youth and Kirkbie Kendal School are involved.

To finish the programme in style, a mini-soccer festival involving all the primary schools will take place at the school giving the girls another footballing opportunity.

With four female coaches taking charge, the girls can look forward to playing in the South Cumbria Champions League. This league brings teams from the existing South Lakes Girls League and the Barrow & District League together to form a new competition for this season.

At the moment the league structure in Westmorland continues to strengthen giving girls from under-12 to under-16 the opportunity to play regular football.

Anna Carradus, secretary at Wattsfield Youth Football Club, was delighted with the attendance.

"We are extremely proud and very pleased to be able to offer local girls a chance to play football in the league. We also run training sessions for under-14 girls and this will develop into an under-16 session in September.

"This could not be done without the devotion of our new female coaches along with the existing coaches who train the older girls."

If you would like any further information on joining a girls' team, please contact Helen Aitchison at the Westmorland County FA Office on 01539 730946 or email Helen.Aitchison@cumberlandfa.com.