The Festival was a culmination of Football Development work that has been undertaken in the East Kent Coastal School Sport Partnership, focusing on developing opportunities for girls to participate in football outside of the school environment.
With each of the feeder Primary Schools, and the three Secondary schools in the cluster entering a team, the afternoon was packed with incident, enjoyment and plenty of football.The girls were introduced to ‘special guest’ Katie Chapman of Charlton Athletic and England, as well as other distinguished guests such as Kirsty Leith, Senior Sport Policy Advisor for the DCMS, Nick Levett FA National School-Club Link project Officer, and members of the Kent County FA Board of Directors. Katie Chapman praised the success of the programme, saying “this is an excellent example of how schools and clubs can work together to develop the opportunities for girls to play football in an environment outside of the school”.
The Festival signified the success of the school-club link programme, which is part of the Government’s national £539 Million PESSCL (Physical Education & School Club Links Strategy) project. The programme linked the feeder Primary Schools and Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School into Faversham Strike Force, a local FA Charter Standard Development Club. With girls football being identified as a developmental need of both the Club and the School Sport Partnership, a series of taster sessions and coaching programmes were organised, targeting Years 5 & 6 of the feeder Primary Schools.
Central to the success of this programme has been having coaches that form the link between the school sessions and the club, giving players that familiar face to aid transition to a club based environment. Darryl Haden, Football Development Officer for Kent County FA, commented on the programme saying “the School-Club Link Programme within the East Kent Coastal Partnership has been a huge success, with a large number of girls now having the opportunity to play football in a club environment that is safe and friendly.
"The programme has enabled the County FA to co-ordinate the delivery of Girls Football, ensuring that opportunities to play football exist for all girls in the community." The Kent County FA have placed an increasing importance of working with partners in the Education sector to use the ‘Power of Football to build a better future’, and to positively engage the children to become involved in football in some capacity. This programme has proved to be an ideal vehicle to achieve this aim.
For further information surrounding the School-Club Link programme in Kent please contact Darryl Haden, Football Development Officer, at darryl.haden@kentfa.com.