Burwood Football Club are one of many clubs across the Canterbury District which are actively encouraging girls and women to participate as well as remain involved in football as they get older.
Burwood under 16 girls coach and club volunteer, Chris Fogarty, has been instrumental in setting up the female skills program that is targeted at girls between the ages of 8-21.
The four week program which began on March 5 is run on a weekly basis every Friday night and is focused on improving technical ability for girls and women.
The training sessions also provide a bit of inspiration for the players who are being provided with expert coaching from CDSFA’s Female Development Officer Trudy Burke as well as the experienced Paul Higgins.
“The level of support amongst the coaches at the club and the coaching coordinator at the club, Paul Higgins, was a strong supporter of the program for all our girls,” Fogarty said.
“We’re lucky in Paul that we have one of the best coordinators in the district, but everyone knew that we had to get a very strong role model and in Trudy we’ve got that.”
“She’s been sensational to work with.”
Trudy Burke training the next generation at Centenary Park
Fogarty was eager to provide a platform for these young girls to further engage with the world game after noticing the sizable amount of young female footballers who decided to turn their backs on the game when they approached their teenage years.
“There are a wide range of reasons given as to why girls stop playing sport but one of the primary ones is confidence. Like ‘I’m not good enough for this team and alike’.”
“Through my oldest daughter I had seen this. Some of the set pathways which are highly competitive provide an avenue for these girls but really at a community club level there is growing participation at a junior level but there wasn’t really anything to keep girls engaged and keep them playing.”
Fogarty’s day-to-day job has seen him work alongside many female leaders which has supplied him with some invaluable pointers that have assisted in the establishment of this program.
“Visibility is really important, so actually seeing an investment in the sport and seeing role models and peers is really important as well,” he explained.
“One of the things that was critical, was to have a program that was available to girls of all ages, all school levels and it was free.”
This program has so far been met with a flood of interest and Fogarty believes that it is the participants’ desire to get down there on a Friday night which will be the telling factor in deciding the overall success of the program.
“They’re [the girls] the ones on a wet, dark Friday night saying come on mum and dad, I want to go, I want to get there.”
“We’ll look at the retention rates in our teams as they come through and if those rates lift then that is success.
It is not, we got this many teams into the finals, it is not we got this players into reps. It comes down to retention and growth.”
By CDSFA Communications Officer – Samuel Greco Schwartz
