FA Girls Football Festival at Wembley’s Powerleague

More than 200 U16 girls from 26  Football League and Premier League clubs will take part in a special FA Girls Football Festival on Saturday 14th May from 8.30-13.00, at Wembley’s Powerleague. Ourselves and the Premier League have invited girls’ teams from across the country to take part in the unique 5-a-side tournament, which takes place before Sunday’s SSE Women’s FA Cup Final between Arsenal Ladies and Chelsea Ladies.

The three-year Football Participation Programme, aimed at driving female participation in football, has already seen over 60,000 girls, aged 14 and over, take part in a range of footballing activities, since its launch.

The-FA-Girls-Football-Festival-at-Wembley

Saturday’s event is the pinnacle of the season, with their ongoing hard work and commitment being rewarded by an invite to this fantastic tournament.

This one of a kind scheme is spearheaded by The FA, Sport England, ourselves, and the Premier League, with sessions across the country being delivered by the Premier League and Football League member clubs.

The celebratory FA Girls Football Festival will give the girls a chance to take part in a 5-a-side tournament outside the iconic Wembley Stadium, as well as having the opportunity to challenge their skills with a variety of innovative interactive equipment including Batak boards, Speed Cages, an inflatable target shoot and Quickfeet trials. To further enhance the festival experience, there will be music, hair braiding and face painting taking place throughout the morning’s competitions.

Created in collaboration with Continental Tyres the festivals provide an exciting, interactive football experience for both those new to the game and regular players. So far more than 35,000 girls have taken part in The FA Girls Football Festivals in association with Continental Tyres, which have been running successfully since 2011.

Oxford United Women’s Captain, Katherine Nutman and her teammate Lauren Haynes will be attending to join in with the girls’ activities and answer any questions the girls may have. Also in attendance are Referee Ambassadors Joanna Stimpson and Mary Harmer, delivering a referee workshop while Charlotte Lade will be delivering a freestyle workshop.

With the festival ending at 13.00, the girls will then have the chance to watch their heroes and catch all of the action from the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final in Wembley Stadium, just next door.

FA director of football participation and development, Kelly Simmons, said: “Our festivals, run in partnership with Continental Tyres, have been a huge success since they launched.

“One of our big areas of focus is getting more girls to play football and we are grateful to both The Premier League and The Football League Trust for encouraging and supporting their Clubs to participate in both our participation programme and in this special festival.”

“We also know the power of role models and I am sure that going to watch the SSE Women’s FA Cup final in the stadium, watching an exciting game of football and seeing so many excellent players will be a real inspiration to the girls.”

Guy Frobisher, Marketing Director UK, of Continental Tyres said: “The FA Girls Football Festival with Continental Tyres continues to grow year on year, giving tens of thousands of young girls from around the country the chance to get involved with the sport. At Continental Tyres we are extremely proud that 2016 is our 6th year partnering with the FA and undoubtedly is set to be the biggest and best so far. Who knows, perhaps in a few years’ time we may see a number of our festival attendees playing for their country”.