Background to our Girls Football

For more than 10 years now the club has included a girls section and we adopted the fairly lengthy club title ‘Droitwich Spa Boys and Girls Football Club’. A decade later we have nearly 70 girls playing for the club at all ages from 9 to 15 with teams in every age group of the Mercian Mini and Youth Football Leagues.
At all age groups our girls teams have been involved in the supporting the establishment of Worcestershire FA’s (WFA) new Player Development Centre (PDC). This is a true testimony to their skills, talent and potential as footballers and an excellent measure of our good relations with the WFA.
In spite of a predilection to choose team names from animals noted for their stealth, tenacity and aggression the pleasure of watching the Droitwich girls’ teams play football is mainly down to their honest endeavour and over-riding sense of fun.

Boys v Girls – What’s the Difference

As coaches of a girls football team one of the most common questions we’re used to being asked is:
‘So what’s the difference between coaching boy’s football team and girl’s football team?’
Well you won’t be surprised there has been lots of study with a fair measure of theory and opinion on the subject.
For my part, the best answer I can give you is to come along to St Peter’s or King Georges on a Saturday morning to watch the: Vixens, Sharks, Leopards, Wildcats, Terriers and Lions, to find out for yourself.
I can guarantee you that it will be immensely enjoyable to watch and a refreshing view of the high quality of competitive football played by our girls and the teams they play against.

A team thing

We have been extremely fortunate in spite of these tough times to find great sponsorship for all of our girl’s teams, this has played a very significant part in providing kit and training gear. Hopefully in return we can provide some excellent and positive promotion for their brands and services.
An integral part of the enjoyment and success the girl’s teams attain is down to the parents, relatives and supporters. It’s not just about being there to shout the team on, but also the practical stuff such as: assembling/dissembling goals and ‘respect’ barriers, handling team admin on behalf of the coach through to helping to organise activities to celebrate the team’s endeavours.

As parent myself of two girl footballers and a coach, the active involvement of our ‘soccer parents’ as the FA describes them is priceless.

The Future
Over the years the Droitwich Spa Girls teams have attained more than their fair share of honours in cup and title success many of them you will find listed on the various team sections on this website.
More by happy accident than design, a number of things have occurred recently which I personally believe should help develop and improve the girls section of the club and they fall into three broad areas:

Development of female coaches/young leaders. Of our 12 Coaches/Assistant Coaches and Managers 5 are female, 2 of which; Sam and Lauren are recent former players of the club who have taken over the under 10 Vixens in their inaugural season. I think this is an excellent development and one we should encourage to sustain girl’s football in our community.
Developing Younger Girls Players. Starting to get girls to join the club at an early age (5 and above like the boys)to enjoy the experience of fun and football we have on offer.
Providing team football for older girl’s age groups(Under 16 and above).This would be the toughest one of all, though one which is acknowledged by Worcestershire F.A. as a challenge to all girls and women’s footballers in the Droitwich area.

The present situation is extremely positive, however the transient nature of a club like ours built on dedicated volunteers means we can’t stand still and therefore need to look at all aspects of the spectrum in the future development of girls football for Droitwich Spa Boys and Girls FC.
I hope those of you who haven’t been before come along and watch our girl’s football teams play, like I said it’s a very rich and rewarding experience.
And finally…Best wishes and good luck to all our girls, coaches, and ‘soccer parents’ this season

Jon Glover Girl’s Football Co-ordinator

October 2010