Girl's football club struggles due to rise in popularity

KentOnline / KMTV

With a rise in popularity for girl's football in Kent, one small club is trying to raise £5,000 to buy new equipment.

Transcript

00:00Crunching tackles, putting your laces through the ball and scoring in the top corner, the

00:04infectious excitement of football is universal. After the Lionesses won the Euros in 2022,

00:101,500 new girls teams were formed the following season.

00:14But across the country in certain teams, demand for equipment is struggling to keep up with

00:19the increasing interest, even though the Football Association claims they are trying to make

00:23the game more accessible.

00:25Some say that in football scoring goals is the only thing that matters and that's not

00:28true. The defensive side of the game is important as well, but the actual physical goal itself

00:33is vital to the game. Without the net, crossbar and two posts, you just can't play.

00:38For East Kent FC in Sandwich and the Kent Girls and Ladies Football League, they've

00:43had to start looking elsewhere for funding to be able to provide their girls with goals.

00:48Their GoFundMe page is currently just under £1,000, but the target is five times that

00:54to be able to afford the 11-a-side and 9-a-side goals they need.

00:57According to development lead Richard Parker, counsellors, companies and even ordinary people

01:02have just been donating to the club, but it's not yet enough, despite the subscriptions

01:06parents already give.

01:08I'm a big believer that we can't keep going to parents and carers and asking them to put

01:13their hands in their pocket. It's really important that we're able to provide the basic infrastructure

01:20for their girls to be able to play football.

01:22They're already having to fund aspects of the club through monthly subscriptions to

01:27cover our insurances, our accreditations, affiliations, kit, referees, pitch hire.

01:34I simply don't think it's right to ask them.

01:36Here in Kent, it's all the more relevant, with Alessia Russo, the Arsenal and England

01:40forward who played for grassroots team Bearstead FC, being from Kent, made stone originally.

01:46Currently the girls team plays and trains using the facilities of a local school, but

01:51at the start of the new season they won't have the access they need for the girls to

01:54do their favourite skills.

01:56What's your favourite thing to do in football?

01:58It could be tackling.

01:59School goals.

02:00School goals.

02:01Yeah, school goals.

02:02Being strong.

02:03Tackling people.

02:04Probably attacking and scoring in general.

02:05Yeah, my heart's skidding at the moment.

02:06It's a bit of both of them.

02:07Squat.

02:08My beautiful shot power.

02:09Tackle and dribble.

02:10And what's your girls' favourite thing to do in football?

02:11Score.

02:12Score.

02:13Score.

02:14Score.

02:15Score.

02:16Score.

02:17Score.

02:18Score.

02:19Score.

02:20Score.

02:21Score.

02:22Score.

02:23Score.

02:24Score.

02:25Score.

02:26Score.

02:27Score.

02:28Score.

02:29With girls' football growing exponentially, the parents of the players and organisers

02:31of the club are faced with the dilemma of how they're going to reach their funding goals.

02:35Finn McDermid for KMTV.

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