Around the Counties: Growing the Game in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire FA reports growth in both participation and the workforce supporting it. The county’s Girls and Ladies League, formed in 2002, now covers 107 teams from senior adults down to new Under-9 and Under-10 divisions that brought in seventeen additional sides. Female Football Fives offers a flexible five-a-side option for players aged sixteen and over, and February’s Futsal School Games gave eight Under-12 school teams a route towards county, regional and national finals. Charter Standard club Priory Celtic has launched a Mums’ Football initiative averaging eighteen participants a week since mid-January. A Female Coach Education Programme, offering FA tutor support and a discounted female-only Level 1 course, has produced fifteen new qualified grassroots coaches.