The day started with a number of ice breakers led by Cornwall FA’s Youth Council Chairperson Beth Wilshaw and Cornwall FA’s Womens and Girls development officer, Vicky Fisher. The girls who were feeling a little nervous quickly got involved and were soon working together with enthusiasm which set the tone for the rest of the day.

Workshop number one – ‘Coaching Football’ was led by Cornwall FA’s newly formed Youth Council. Youth Council members delivered a coaching session for the girls to take part in whilst also talking through their planning process. In small groups the girls were then given the opportunity to plan and then deliver their own session. The girls did a great job in their delivery and everyone who played within the sessions enjoyed them. The feedback from the girls was although they were nervous at first they grew in confidence when delivering and would like to do it again!

Workshop two gave an insight and introduction into refereeing.  The girls had the opportunity to share their personal experiences and then took part in a ‘laws of the game’ quiz. In a competitive battle the quiz ended in a tie break with the winning team correctly identifying assistant referee signals.

Workshop three was then led by youth council members Zoe Arundell-Letherbridge and Josh Stockdale, it allowed the girls to consider the skills and qualities needed to be able to plan and deliver an event. The girls were then set a task to organise an event and then present their plans to Beth and Vicky who were the judging panel. 

Workshop four and the final of the day was themed on ‘females in sport’. Led by Beth the girls considered who were their role models and what qualities did they have? We were joined by Dawn Aberdeen, CEO at Cornwall FA to talk about her journey. The girls then took part in an interactive online quiz featuring females from the south-west who have gone on to work in variety of roles in football, from coaches to referees, development officers to tutors and mentors to CEOs!!  The workshop finished with the Beth, Zoe and Vicky sharing an insight into their own journeys to give some real life examples to the girls.

The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all, a huge thank you and well done to all of the girls who took part in the day but also to Cornwall FA Youth Council members for all of their hard work; Beth, Mollie, Zoe, Jack, Joe, James and Josh!