Community club Broughton Park FC made history last weekend by hosting North Wales’ largest ever festival for junior girl’s football.
The festival, held on Saturday 14 October, was comprised of 15 teams with 10 players each, making the festival the biggest ever gathering of junior girls’ football in North Wales so far.
Teams from across the region flocked to the festival, with sides including Northop Hall, Caernarfon Town, Kinmel Bay and Brickfield Rangers all getting involved to get game-time and hone their skills.
And the day was no one-off for Broughton Park, who were established in 2017 to encourage healthy wellbeing through physical activities, be it through football or any other sport, as club secretary Gary Downie told Y Clwb Pel Droed.
“Our mission as a club is to tackle child obesity and anti social behaviour to create real social value in the community, and so whether the juniors at the club want to play football, rugby or table tennis, we’ll try our best to make it happen.
The festival was inspired by a previous festival held by gap Northop Hall as the junior girl’s football scene continues to grow in North Wales, with appetite for Broughton Park’s festival so big that close neighbours Saltney Town assisted with the loan of vital equipment to put the event on.
Downie said: “We have to thank all the teams and in particular Saltney who were a real help. It’s great to have a number of clubs working with each other to provide football for girls in this area, and it goes to show there’s scope for a bigger girls’ football community in North Wales.
Broughton Park is comprised of U6-U10s teams with many girls involved in the growing-club, which is about to introduce a whole-new form of football to girls in North Wales.
It has been selected to run a pilot scheme for Beatball, a new activity which combines music, dance and football skills for girls aged 7-11.
Beatball, which is backed by the FAW, is hoped to boost physical activity and interest in football in girls, and it will be tested out by Broughton Park who are keen to bring the new format to North Wales, as the FAW eyes a target of 20,000 more girls playing football in Wales by 2020.
The club is continuing to grow, and despite only coming into existence this year it is targeting growth to involve more girls in the grassroots game, which secretary Downie says will help better the community all-together.
“The festival really demonstrated the strength of girls’ football in the area, and as a club we want to take that forward to achieve our aim of bettering both the individuals in our team and the wider community.
Featured Image: Broughton Park FC
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