LVS Ascot Hosts National ISA Girls Football Festival

Almost 400 girls from schools as far away as Middlesbrough and Wales descended on LVS Ascot on Tuesday as 46 teams took part in the ISA Girls Football Festival. There was further great excitement as Reading and England internationals Jade Moore and Jo Potter were joined by Arsenal’s American World Cup-winner Heather O’Reilly to present the prizes and sign autographs.

With nine pitches in operation at any one time, the school’s 25-acre site was a sea of colour as girls in three age categories – under 11, under 13 and under 15 – battled it out in mini-leagues and then knockout competition. In between matches, players were able to have their pictures taken with the women’s FA Cup to inspire them to aim for the top, and each team was also able to enjoy a masterclass training session with the Arsenal women’s community coaches.

“It is exciting for me to be at an event like this to see how much the sport has grown over here, how many girls are having fun playing and learning so many qualities about themselves through football. LVS Ascot has amazing facilities, there are so many beautiful fields for the girls to compete on.”

World Cup-winning Arsenal player Heather O’Reilly

LVS Ascot players performed with great credit, the Under 11s winning the Plate competition, the Under 13s runners up in the Bowl and the Under 15s only failing to win the Cup competition after an agonising penalty shoot out loss in the final to an excellent Meoncross side.

The full list of final results were as follows:

• U11 Trophy: Parson’s Green (London) beat Holme Grange (Berkshire)
• U11 Plate: LVS Ascot beat Gateway (Bucks)
• U11 Cup: Southbank Kensington (London) beat St Mary’s (Bucks)
• U13 Bowl: Luckley House (Berkshire) beat LVS Ascot
• U13 Trophy: King Alfred (London) beat Park School (Somerset)
• U13 Plate: Akeley Wood (Bucks) beat Lingfield College (Surrey)
• U13 Cup: Ballard (Hampshire) beat Red House (Stockton on Tees)
• U15 Trophy: Holme Grange (Berkshire) beat Lingfield College (Surrey)
• U15 Plate: Akeley Wood (Bucks) beat King Alfred (London)
• U15 Cup: Meoncross (Hampshire) beat LVS Ascot

LVS Ascot Principal Christine Cunniffe said: “LVS Ascot aims to inspire young people to exceed their expectations, and by supporting this incredible ISA event by hosting 46 teams from all over the country we will hopefully help to produce women’s footballers of the future. To be able to welcome international players to the school as well as the Women’s FA Cup also helped inspire the girls present and open their minds to the possibilities ahead of them in the future”.

LVS Ascot will be welcoming families to see its facilities for themselves again at the school’s next open morning on Saturday 18th November.