Girl teams bid for Active cash

Aug 24 2008 by Sara Nichol, Sunday Sun

SOCCER stars at Riverside Girls’ Football Club are kicking off their season in style . . . by getting behind our Active campaign.

The three seven-a-side teams for girls aged 10 to 15 have been busy netting vouchers from family and friends in a bid to raise much-needed cash for new strips and equipment.

The club — which plays in the Russell Foster League — also hope to get enough money from our £25,000 Active pot to enable them to continue travelling once a year to a tournament in the UK.

With 30 members, the teams practise every week come rain or shine to prove they are a football force to be reckoned with in the male-dominated sport . . . and they want to keep providing opportunities for girls to get out on the pitch.

Secretary Sue Mudd, 42, whose 12-year-old daughter Amy plays in the under-14s team at Durham’s Gilesgate Primary School, said: “We want to put the money towards buying new strips and equipment and paying for travel to the tournament we go to every year.

“This year, we went to a tournament in Prestatyn in North Wales and the girls don’t pay for any of the travel. We want to make sure everyone can go.

“The girls all get on really well and are good friends. My daughter plays for the under-14s and she is always either talking about or playing football.

“My husband Ian coaches the under-14s so a lot of the family is involved, and we’ve been getting parents and friend to collect the tokens.

“We even got some elderly people in my mother-in-law’s sheltered accommodation to help us collect.

“We need to keep teams like this going and provide more opportunities for girls playing football because, even though it’s better than in the past, there is still not enough.”

The club proved its success recently when two girls were selected for the Sunderland Academy and two for the Newcastle School of Excellence.

All the girls have been involved in fundraising events such as race nights, bag packing and tombolas.

Sue’s daughter Amy said: “It’s really good fun and I have made lots of friends. I love training every week and seeing everyone and I can’t wait for the start of the season.”

The Active Campaign will distribute £25,000 between the groups who have registered with the Sunday Sun and are collecting tokens.

The amount of cash each group receives depends on the number of tokens collected. Members of the public are also collecting tokens for their “adopted” groups.

To donate your tokens to Riverside Girls’ FC, send them to 11 Larmouth Court, Willington, County Durham, DL15 0FG.