A KICKABOUT in the park used to be pretty much a male preserve but the lasses of the Cartmel peninsula are booting such ageing stereotypes into the long grass.

More than 20 girls lined up at Grange CE Primary School for the first of six training sessions with a professional Football Association coach, laid on courtesy of a £1,000 National Lottery grant.

Grange primary's PE co-ordinator Lisa Phillips applied for the cash after girls' football training proved a winner with their own pupils. She decided it was time to buy-in the services of an experienced coach and share his talents with girls from other primary schools including Flookburgh, Cartmel, Allithwaite, Lindale, Leven Valley and Levens.

The money also paid for footballs, training goals and some coaching training for Ms Phillips herself.

"It's fantastic," she said at the inaugural kickabout, while admiring the girls warming up with a dribble around the school pitch. "It's a brilliant opportunity for everybody in the local primary schools and there's obviously the need for it because so many girls are here."

Among the appreciative players were Grange ten-year-olds Natalia Kitchen and Lauren Whinfield a pair of strikers who dream of playing professionally and following in the footsteps of their heroes David Beckham and Michael Owen.

"It's just a good sport to join in, it's really fun," said Natalia. "Sometimes the boys say we're not as good and we shouldn't be playing football and that is quite annoying but since there's a girls' team here it doesn't matter."

Over the next few months, coach Mike Halhead, of the Westmorland and South Lakeland Football Development Scheme, will be nurturing the young ladies'

ball skills and is expecting great things.

"Boys are kicking footballs from when they are in a pram, that is the way it is. Some of these lasses have never kicked a football in their lives but by God they are coming on!"

May 15, 2003 15:34