Surrey’s future lionesses

The 2022 European Championships were a turning point for Women’s football, inspiring thousands of girls up and down the country. No where more so than at Weydon School in Farnham where more than 50 girls now regularly participate in our much-loved national game. This commitment has led to success with both school teams reaching the Surrey County Finals and on track for the District Finals.

Lucy Harper, Head of PE said “We have girls developing at all levels, some new to the game, others playing competitively, with over 50 girls that have played in competitive matches – friendlies, league, district or county. As a school we also held a girl’s football festival for local schools, boasting over 14 teams participating from in and around the district”. 

Ella Knights in Year 8 expresses how thankful she is for the girls football at Weydon “We have teachers both male and female fighting to take our girls football teams and we really are lucky Weydon has such high quality girls football”.

Much has been written of the positive impact of physical activity and its effect on our wellbeing but there are other, less obvious, benefits in a school environment as Lucy explains. “Girls football is a safe space for many students and enables them to develop other skills such as teamwork and leadership. The impact of their increased confidence and sense of belonging can really be seen back in the classroom and on their ability to learn. And they love it.”

The school continues to build on the Lionesses legacy and will next year be creating 2 more teams so more girls can experience the challenge of competitive sport, something Year 11 Student Chloe Harper could only dream of. “When we first started in year 7 there was only 5 of us girls playing football and we barely made a team. Now we can leave with two teams at each level. We are so proud of this team and how much girls football has grown. We hope as Year 11s we can leave a legacy of more girls continuing to play football.”

Weydon are justifiably proud of the achievements of these team and wish them luck for their finals.

Go Team Weydon!