Around the Counties: Women & Girls Football in West Riding takes huge leaps forward

A county-level report on the growth of women’s and girls’ football in West Riding. Following the first female-specific continuing professional development event in July, a series of workshops on coaching the female player began with FA Skills coach Emma Coates addressing the social and psychological elements of the game, with technical and physical strands to follow across the next season in line with the FA’s four-corner model. The West Riding Girls League has secured Be Inspired funding to create further female-specific opportunities, and Castleford White Rose collected the National Charter Standard Development Club of the Year award at Wembley in August. Since 2012 the West Riding Player Development Centre has helped fourteen players move from grassroots football into Centres of Excellence, with development officer Caroline Hulme crediting a dedicated team sharing a common vision.