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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Girls Football

16 replies

Jossina · 03/04/2019 08:45

I'm helping my SIL, an American expat, find a prep school for her son and daughter (aged 3) and she's been a bit shocked and definitely saddened that there seem to be few to none with girls' football teams. She played through university and would love to give her daughter that chance as well. She's looking for coed to 13, is willing to consider weekly/full boarding, would prefer not to have Saturday school, midsize and can pick anywhere in England/Scotland/Wales.

Any suggestions?

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sleepismysuperpower1 · 03/04/2019 10:25

prince avenue school has a girls football team x

sleepismysuperpower1 · 03/04/2019 10:25

sorry, forgot to add that it's located in essex

AnotherNewt · 03/04/2019 10:35

You cannot board at that age anywhere in Britain. There is (very limited) provision for age 6 upwards, but in practise only a few hundred DC across all of UK board before age 8 (and many of those are because of complex family circumstances or other additional needs)

So whereabouts would she like to live?

Choosing the right school and the new finding a good football club nearest home is likely to be a better solution on a number of levels for at least the next 4 years, and quite possibly longer (if they live in a city with a premier league academy or outreach programme)

BlueChampagne · 03/04/2019 12:51

They might have mixed football teams?

She's planning well ahead isn't she. But should choose school first and football second; what if the child doesn't like football?

ItsAllGone19 · 03/04/2019 13:00

Girls football is thriving outside of schools. There are leagues and tournaments up and down the country Wales and England at least...I haven't checked Scotland and NI but I'm sure it's doing well there too

I'm another voice for choose a school for it's educational merits and suitability for maintaining a good family life, then looking into football academies that focus on girls development IF your niece is interested in football. Just because SIL is, that doesn't necessarily mean that her daughter will be.

drspouse · 03/04/2019 16:34

My DD is 4 and is going to a holiday football club (at her age, not just for girls, but I don't think she will care). There is a wide selection of weekend and after school clubs she can take part in too; she can do it as part of school PE when she's a little older but the younger ones tend to do it as an extracurricular.

Gingercat1223 · 03/04/2019 16:40

There are loads of girls football clubs and schools that play in SW London. Try Surbiton Prep girls and boys up to 11. Rowan Prep (girls only, part of same school group) also play.

BackforGood · 04/04/2019 00:02

I don't know anything about Private Education, but I do know that girls' football is a real growth sport (in England at least). WOuld she be interested in them joining a club outside of school ? Sadly not many schools seem to have the enthusiasm for football for girls, IME

bombaychef · 04/04/2019 21:52

Girls football is very big and there are clubs all over. A lot of private schools are still traditional - hockey and netball for girls & football and rugby for boys. State school provision tends to depend on the teachers in each school. I have a football mad daughter but there was no way of predicting that. She plays several times a week but rarely in school as the PE teacher is only interested in boys football.

stucknoue · 04/04/2019 22:03

Dd played mixed football until she was 11!

MarchingFrogs · 05/04/2019 00:46

prince avenue schoolhas a girls football team

Somehow, I can't really see Prince Avenue's catchment area being the matural playground of American ex-pats looking for a prep school, though...

Thorpe Hall, possibly, if she does fancy the Essex seaside? They take part in a lot of local sporting events along with the state primary schools.

www.spssa.co.uk/competitions/view.php?event_id=98

MarchingFrogs · 05/04/2019 22:59

natural...

boredorboard · 06/04/2019 15:00

The Independent Schools Association hold a prep school girls football championship every year. Ask them which schools compete?

Hoppinggreen · 06/04/2019 20:33

I would suggest she not send her very young children away to school, that would be my suggestion

ALLMYSmellySocks · 06/04/2019 20:43

I think she'd be better off finding a school she loves then finding a local girls football team. If her daughter is age 3 she won't know yet whether her DD is even sporty and if she is she might prefer a different sport to her mum. By all means expose her to football but I wouldn't base the school choice on it.

Applesbananaspears · 07/04/2019 20:32

She’s much better off going down the football club route. Girls grassroots football teams are thriving and there’s some seriously good Saturday morning football going on.

In schools, there isn’t generally a feel for taking girls football seriously, some of the prep schools pay lipservice and have some pretty rubbish matches against other schools but essentially it’s all happening in the local clubs as well as the academies of the big clubs

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