Foundation pleased to give schoolgirls opportunity to play at Wolves training ground

It was a day for young girls from across the region to come together and have the opportunity to play football at a Premier League club.

The event at Compton Park Training Ground, the training ground for Wolverhampton Wanderers, on Friday saw 14 girls teams from across the West Midlands and south of the country compete in the Premier League Primary Stars Girls Tournament.

It was a day of six-a-side games for more than 100 girls aged 11 and under who were representing teams such as Wolves, Aston Villa, West Brom, Birmingham City and Walsall, as well as teams further afield such as MK Dons, Shrewsbury, Oxford, Forest Green Rovers and Kidderminster Harriers.

The prize at the end of the day for the winning team was the chance to compete in the national Premier League finals, to be played at a Premier League stadium, but for the Wolves Foundation, who were hosting the tournament, it was also about letting the girls express themselves through football.

They also had the chance to get their photos taken with the Premier League trophy and also meet Wolves first team goalkeeper Shannon Turner, and the foundation’s senior schools officer Richard Lewis said it fit the foundation’s aim of creating opportunities for youngsters.

He said: “From our own foundation perspective, it’s about creating opportunities for every team across the Midlands and for everyone here today to have a fun and engaging time and be able to express themselves through the means of football and sport.

“Today has been about having lots of different communities come together, with different schools having the chance to come to a Premier League training ground and play where our first team women train in the dome.

“We’ve also had Shannon Turner, the first team goalkeeper, here today who is a schools officer and is also the face of a semi-professional football team and also an international goalkeeper with Northern Ireland as well.”

Mr Lewis said the reaction from the girls taking part in the tournament had been great, saying that they had been blown away by the scale of the facility, as well as getting their photos taken with the Premier League trophy.

He said: “It’s been nice for them to have this opportunity as it’s not something a lot of schools will get.

“As a foundation, we work with more than 100 schools every year and they’ve had the chance to have success in other tournaments, have a relationship with us and represent us in this event.

“I think there’s scope for more events like this as we run them quite regularly, as well as disability tournament and a Kicks one.”