England Lionesses have had a strong start in the FIFA Womens World Cup 2019, with 3 wins in 3 of the group games, concluding last night as an Ellen White double helped England through to the knockout stages as group winners defeating Japan 2-0 in Nice!

The Lionesses will now face a third-place finisher in the last 16 which will be either China (Group B), Cameroon or New Zealand (Group E), or Chile or Thailand (Group F) in Valenciennes. Tune in to BBC One on Sunday to catch the game, Kick Off at 4.30pm and follow the @Lionesses on Twitter and join the Lionesses supporters club http://www.thefa.com/england/womens-seniors for latest progress!

Has watching the Lionesses compete alongside the world’s best talent inspired you to get more involved with the beautiful game?

Last season over female 147,000 players competed in affiliated league and cup competitions – a figure which has risen from just 10,400 in 1993, when records started. There is still huge growth potential for female football within the UK with around 1.1 million girls playing kick-about football.

In Worcestershire we have a number of initiatives available to help girls and women get involved in football with the county no matter what your age or ability is!

Our SSE Wildcats Girls Football Centers offer 5-11 year olds a first experience of football with further opportunities to progress, for example to playing for a team and club within a local league.

The sessions take place on a weekly basis, either after school or at weekends. They provide an inclusive and safe environment where girls who don’t currently play the game can have fun engaging with sport, make new friends, develop fundamental skills, try a variety of sessions, and create foundations for a lifelong love of sport.

Each SSE Wildcats Girls’ Football Centre is run in conjunction with local County FA's utilising qualified coaches and local facilities to offer girls a location nearby where they can get involved: http://www.thefa.com/womens-girls-football/get-involved/sse-wildcats

For girls at Secondary School, College and Higher Education age, there are many teams across the County who are looking for more players to join their clubs and also offer to play within their educational environments. There are also openings through the County FA or educational settings at this age to gain leadership skills, coaching and refereeing qualifications, you don’t have to be a player to be involved in our beautiful game. http://www.thefa.com/womens-girls-football/get-involved

In fact Worcestershire FA are again offering its ‘WFA Lionesses Programme’ after successful delivery this past season, supporting women the opportunity enhance their leadership skills and knowledge in football through a season long programme with minimal cost. You can read more about our Worcestershire FA Lionesses programme here from our article feature in She Kicks Magazine April Edition:

For adult female football (open to anyone aged 16 and older) we have a small variation of club teams within various league formats where teams generally train midweek and play fixtures September – May and welcome new players at any point during the season. If you would like us to help you find your local club get in touch to find out more: jodie.williams@worcestershirefa.com

If you don’t want to commit to a league team, but still want a kick-about each week then our ‘turn up and just play offers’ are a good opportunity for women of all ages and abilities to join in fun and social sessions: http://www.thefa.com/get-involved/player/justplay.

To find out more about getting involved in any girls or women’s football locally please visit our County FA website www.worcestershirefa.com, social media pages @WorcsFA or contact Football Development Officer: jodie.williams@worcestershirefa.com