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Women’s football in Gwent has doubled over the last three years, with plans for a new Gwent Girls’ League set to be unveiled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW).
It is hoped the new league will encourage more girls to get involved in competitive sport.
An FAW spokesperson told Caerphilly Observer: “A Gwent Girls’ League would focus on the Under-6 to Under-13 age groups in its infancy, with an extra age band added each year.
Why is Caerphilly in Gwent?
Caerphilly County Borough was formed on April 1, 1996, by the merger of the Rhymney Valley district of Mid Glamorgan with the Islwyn borough of Gwent.
Administratively, for local services such as the police and health, the borough now falls under a wider region referred to as Gwent. This comprises the council areas of Caerphilly, Newport, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire.
“What we hope to achieve is a fully-fledged pathway from Under-6 to Senior Womens’ Football in Gwent in the next five to seven years.
“Hopefully this will become a league that will challenge the South Wales Women and Girls’ League and become an additional gateway into the Adran Leagues. This can only have positive effects on the entire pyramid.”
Although the league is still in its planning stages, the FAW is confident the project can prove a success.
Since the Adran League was created in 2009, women’s football has grown to the point where there are now multiple leagues across Wales, divided regionally.
According to the FAW, there are more girls’ playing football now than at any point in recent history.
The Girls’ National Lead for the FAW, Bethan Wooley, reiterated these targets, with the aim of “20,000 girls playing football in Wales by 2026″.
An example of a girls’ team going from strength-to-strength is Wattsville Under-10s.
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When Wattsville Juniors set up a girls’ team in September last year, just eight girls showed up in a league of only six teams.
Since then however, thanks to the hard work of coach Wayne Brinkley, the team now has 21 players and the league has doubled to 12 teams.
In October last year, the FAW released its five-year plan to improve the women and girls’ game – with targets such as increased funding and doubling the numbers of players and fans.
At a more local level however, Wayne is confident there is now a blueprint for success.
Wayne said: “Interest first grew from the success of the women’s game. It has been growing for years now and it made sense to get involved.
“Since the team was created, we have taken the girls to watch Wales Women, played at half-time during a Newport County game and were ball girls at the Adran Cup Final.
“Lots of teams in the area have mixed boys and girls teams. I would encourage all of them to start up a girls-only side as some girls might be put off playing with boys.”
Wayne explained the team’s main focus this year has been on growing and making sure the girls enjoy playing football.
“Enjoyment has been the focus this year. We’ve created a really good atmosphere that all the girls have loved.
“You know you’ve done something right when you’ve got parents calling up after a match has been rained off because the girls are gutted they can’t play.”
To celebrate this year’s achievements, Wattsville hosted a 12-team tournament in April, which ended with a medal ceremony and a mother’s match.
Optimistic about the future of Wattsville Girls’, Wayne continued: “In the next 12 months we’d love to double the number of players again. There are girls joining all the time.
“In Wales, I’d love to see four national stadiums so that people from all over get to watch Wales Women play and hopefully inspire the next generation.”
There are currently seven girls-only sides in Caerphilly County Borough registered with the FAW. To find your nearest girls’ side, visit the FAW Trust’s website.
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