Girls are an unstoppable force for good if they’re given the chance. The chance to play football. They want to play in the school curriculum, at break time, after school, at local clubs – wherever, whenever they want.

No barriers, no stereotypes. Let Girls Play.

The FA has recently launched a campaign to ensure every girl has the same access to football in schools and in clubs by 2024 as boys do. #LetGirlsPlay is a call for change and Northowram Junior FC is proud to get behind the campaign and support the next generation of female footballers.

Research shared as part of the campaign shows that football is very popular amongst girls and that the number of girls engaged in football is continuing to grow. Whilst football is the most popular team sport for young people in England, only a third of girls aged 5-18 years participate each week. The research findings show that that 90% of girls that play, enjoy it, 60% of these girls that play football in schools want to play more and 91% of girls that don’t play, want the opportunity to do so.

As part of the same research, girls were asked what they thought the benefits of playing football were and how football made the girls feel. Their responses identified physical and holistic benefits:

88% play to keep fit and healthy
73% plan to learn/develop social skills
73% play because it increases their self-confidence
52% play to relieve stress and worry and 92% play because it is fun

Northowram JFC has always been an inclusive club, offering opportunities for boys and girls of all abilities to play together in mixed teams. We’re proud to say we’ve had many girls join our club over the years, but we knew we could do much more to create an appetite and an environment in which young girls carry on playing football into and through their teenage years.

In 2020, Northowram JFC set to work creating a new, dedicated girls football section from scratch.

The 2020-21 season began with just one girl in our under 6 age group. Fast forward to today and we have our very first girls-only under 7 team playing in the Huddersfield Junior Football League, with more girls joining in training sessions every week.

Our goal is to create a fun, friendly, welcoming and inclusive environment to encourage young girls to join in, and more importantly, keep coming back.

We're always interested in exploring opportunities to grow our girls-only football offering, if you have any ideas or would like to get involved with the campaign please get in touch.

We are actively seeking new girls aged 6 and over to join our club with a focus on forming new teams ready for next season, particularly in age groups where we're currently not represented. If your daughter would like to learn new skills, make new friends, and have loads of football fun in a friendly and positive environment please get in touch with Helen Wilson - our Girls Section Leader - to discuss opportunities and arrange a free taster session.