Women’s and Girl’s National Football Festival
31 May 2017
The largest female football festival ever held in Wales is taking place at Cardiff University in the build up to the UEFA Champions League final.
Taking place on 1st June 2017, the Women’s and Girl’s National Football Festival will see more than 1,500 players from as young as six years-old compete in the national event which showcases female football in Wales.
Held at the University’s sports fields in Llanrumney, the event will welcome teams from across Wales and coincides with the UEFA Women’s Champion League Final in Cardiff, held later that day.
Head of Sport at Cardiff University, Stuart Vanstone, said: “We are really looking forward to hosting the event and supporting the Football Association of Wales and Cardiff as a city in the peripheral activities linked to the Champions league fixtures that the city will host this week.
“Cardiff has for a number of years been a major event destination and the University has always played its part in providing venues and services to support. The Cardiff University Sports Fields in Llanrumney will provide an excellent venue for the national tournament and will hopefully provide a stage for future professional female footballers - and who knows future champions league finalists!”
The University has a strong track record in supporting local sport and encouraging girls and women into sport.
In partnership with the Welsh Football Trust, the University runs the South Girls Performance Centre which supports and develops talented female players to progress onto regional and national squads.
In addition more than 40 local teams play and train at the University’s facilities weekly throughout the season.
The University has also achieved significant success in female sport this year. This includes the University’s female football team gaining promotion into the BUCS premier league for the first time, Manon Carpenter, former World Downhill Mountain Biking Champion winning BUCS individual and team gold, and a number of the University’s female athletes competing at national and international level in their given sport.
Stuart added: “Our female sports clubs and individual athletes have had great success this year. The University is committed to high performance sport and to grassroots sports, enabling girls and women to achieve their full potential.”
The Women’s and Girl’s National Football Festival is one of a number of events involving the University in the build up to the UEFA Champions League Final.
Professor Laura McAllister of the University’s Wales Governance Centre – a former Wales football international and member of the FAW’s Board of Trustees - has organised and will take part in an event exploring how football and sport can help close the gender gap.
The Inspiring Women Event (1st June) will include contributions from Sophie Howe Future Generations Commissioner, Elin Haf Davies, adventurer and author, and Adrian Wells, Senior Marketing Manager for UEFA, and will highlight the connection between women’s sports participation, professional progression and the economic benefits that come from women being in a better position to drive growth.
Also taking place is a Sports Innovation (SPIN) Final which will showcase 10 great pitches from sports start-up companies, and Fiction Fiesta, a poetry and fiction festival that will celebrate our love of football and short story writing.