On Monday 11th October students at Coloma Convent Girls’ School in the Croydon area were delighted to welcome Faye White MBE, Captain of the England and Arsenal Ladies’ football teams, to officially open their new third generation, floodlit football pitch.
The female star conducted the opening ceremony by cutting a ribbon which released a dozens of balloons in the school’s colours into the air. This was followed by an exhibition match between two school teams with the winner being presented with 'The Faye White Cup' by the player herself. Faye also gave pupils a question & answer opportunity and a special training session, involving around 30 11-to-12 year-old pupils.
The new pitch was built with the help of a £228,399 grant from the Football Foundation – a charity funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government. It will allow Coloma Convent Girls’ School to increase the number of girls and women playing football in the Borough of Croydon through a number of projects designed to attract new players to the game, whilst offering a valuable facility available for use by local clubs and other schools as well as Coloma staff.
The Foundation gave the school a further £15,000 of revenue funding to support the football development and sports activity at the new site.
Captain of Arsenal and England Ladies Teams, Faye White, said: “It’s fantastic to hear that such an amazing new facility will be the focal point for girls’ football at Coloma Convent Girls’ School and its surrounding community.
She added: “Having accessible and welcoming facilities is an important factor in encouraging girls to take up any kind of sport and so I’m sure this will really help towards developing female participation further within the area all year round.”
Mrs Martin, Headteacher at Coloma, said: “Our vision is to provide quality, safe football opportunities for people of all ages. In particular, this facility will prove to be a centre of excellence for girls’ and womens’ football both within our school and the wider community. We will ensure that football at Coloma is inclusive and that all involved have the opportunity to develop personally and fulfill their goals and potential.
“We thank the Football Foundation and Croydon Council for their financial support. Without them, this project could not have gone ahead. I also thank Surrey FA for their unfailing support and advice during the long process of bidding for this money.”
Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation said: “We are delighted that Coloma Convent Girls’ School and the local community will have access to these excellent new facilities and commend the staff and the Surrey County FA for their hard work in making this happen.”
“It is particularly fitting that England’s international captain Faye White is opening this site. Faye is an excellent role model for the girls at Coloma and a great Ambassador for the women’s game, which is, of course, the fastest growing participatory sport in the country.”
Funded by the Premier League, The FA, and the Government via Sport England, the Football Foundation is the nation’s largest sports charity. Launched in July 2000, the Foundation celebrates its tenth anniversary this summer and has so far supported 8,000 community sports projects worth £930m. It has also funded 409 projects worth £14m, that are solely directed at supporting women & girls sport.