Girls FC — Helena Pielichaty

A question-and-answer with Helena Pielichaty, author of the twelve-book Girls FC series published by Walker Books. Pielichaty explains that the idea grew from a suggestion by Helen Regan at Oxford University Press that she write about girls’ football, and from her own knowledge through her daughter Hanya, who played from the age of nine. The twelve books took over five years, each needing research not only into football but into subjects such as healthy eating, fear of heading and dyslexia. She followed her local side, Lincoln Griffins under-11s, and their coach Phil Hugan to get the detail and language right. The fictional team is named the Parrs after Lily Parr and the league after Nettie Honeyball, and one book is dedicated to the South Africa captain Eudy Simelane.