Local girls have a ball with England star (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Local girls have a ball with England star

5:12pm Wednesday 1st July 2009 in

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ENGLAND women’s international Casey Stoney and Britain’s Got Talent singer Faryl Smith joined a host of local children at Loughton Academy to celebrate the FA Tesco’s Girls’ Football Week.

Girls between the age of five and 16 from across the area were welcomed to the fields of the Academy to take part in a special football taster session.

Chelsea ladies star and Three Lions left-back Stoney, as well as a selection of trained FA coaches, gave the youngsters tips as they trained throughout the day.

The event was one of a number of similar sessions being held up and down the country, with the aim to encourage more girls to get involved in football.

Representatives from the Essex FA were also on hand to give the girls information about local clubs and how they might go about getting involved themselves.

While she may be famous for her voice, Smith is also a dab hand with her feet, and she called on the children at the Academy to join the growing number of girls picking up footballs across the country.

“Girls football is really popular at the moment and the events that are taking place around the country this week are a brilliant way of giving girls who may not have thought about playing before a fun introduction to the game,” she said. I really enjoy playing football as it is a great way of keeping fit, having fun and making new friends and I’d encourage girls to get themselves involved and give it a try.”

More than 150,000 girls are already taking to the fields to play football, and there may be a few more in Loughton after last week’s event.