Brentford captain runs girls football session for International Women’s Day
To mark International Women’s Day, Brentford captain Romaine Sawyers teamed up with Chiedozie Ogbene to run a girls’ football session at Ealing Fields High School. The pair ran an after school coaching session at the school, in west London, yesterday. With England Women providing a worthy inspiration with their recent win in the She Believes Cup, the budding female footballers learnt a number of tricks and skills from the professionals.
And with the theme for International Women’s Day being #balanceforbetter, the pupils quizzed the players on how to get more girls playing football.
Brentford player Chiedozie Ogbene felt the session was a perfect way to highlight the growing importance of the women’s game.
He said: “Ahead of International Women’s Day, it was a pleasure to run this girls’ football session. I hope I have inspired these girls to play more football and they have certainly inspired me with their enthusiasm and skills today.
“I believe football has the power to bring people together and events like this do just that.”
With the FA committed to doubling female participation by 2020, Brentford’s Community Sport Trust is working with the Premier League and English Football League Trust to help ignite girls’ passion for football. So far, the Trust has engaged with more than 1,400 girls across west London.
Rachel Radcliff, PE lead at Ealing Fields High School, said:
“Ealing Fields High School and the Twyford Trust are passionate about promoting the participation of girls in sport. It is important to us to ensure that our students have equal opportunities through sport regardless of their gender, ethnicity or ability.
“Our vision is to have 100% participation of girls in sport across the trust and having Brentford in today has had a huge impact on encouraging our girls to try new activities and get involved with sports such as football.”
And the girls’ session was not the only initiative that Brentford have been running. On Monday, Natalie Sawyer hosted an evening to celebrate the increasing role and involvement of women in football. The event provided a platform to discuss the ongoing strategy to make the Brentford FC as welcoming to female fans as possible.
