Following on from some outstanding progress in the girls and women’s game in England which culminated in reaching the UEFA European Championship final, Hope and Rachel were full of praise for the sell out crowd of over 100 grassroots coaches and volunteers who turned up on the night to hear from both prominent figures of the women’s game. Hope said “our game has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and whilst we are now the no.1 sport for women in England, we don’t yet have the same level of resource available to us as the men’s game” she added “so it’s vital that the fantastic work at grassroots continues to flourish because it has played a key part in developing the senior squad and the successes we have had in recent years”
The evening started with a quick presentation from Rachel who gave an updated on the National Game Strategy with the main focus being on increased participation, improving players and increasing the number of referee’s and coaches coming into the game.
A practical coaching session from Hope followed for all coaches to observe & take notes. There was also a special goalkeeping session which was taken by the Keith Rees who coaches the England senior shot stoppers! The evening was wrapped up with a Question & Answer session where Hope, Rachel and Keith answered many questions and gave their views on an array of football and coaching related subjects. The evening was a real success and more special guest evenings will be planned soon, details of which will be available via the Manchester FA website www.manchesterfa.com