Over 100 girls attended a free training camp on Friday before recording a heart-warming message for their heroes
More than 100 Bristol girls attended a free football camp to celebrate the Lionesses getting through to the Euros final on Sunday.(Image: Shine)
Football fever has gripped Bristol ahead of the Lionesses’ date with destiny in this evening’s Women’s Euro final. England will take on favourites Spain in the big match which kicks off at 5pm today, hoping to avenge a 1-0 loss to the same opponents in the 2023 World Cup final in Sydney.
England are the defending champions having defeated Germany in the 2022 final at Wembley in front of a sell-out crowd of over 87,000. The victory sparked joyous scenes across Bristol, with people taking to the streets around the city to celebrate.
To celebrate Lioness Fever, Shine, which runs after school sports sessions and holiday clubs, put on a free coaching morning for girls at their HQ in North Bristol on Friday morning. Over 100 girls aged 5-11 showed up on a perfect summer morning, despite the session only being announced on Wednesday, the day after England’s dramatic extra time semi final victory against Italy.
The Lionesses have inspired a new generation of Bristol girls(Image: Shine)
Jamie Dawson, a director at Shine, broke off from showing one group how to take a Chloe Kelly penalty to talk to Bristol Live. He said it was amazing to see so many girls turning out, many of whom were trying football for the first time.
“We’ve got 105 girls here today that have all signed up for a sort of taster session to celebrate the fact that the Lionesses are in the Euro final on Sunday,” he said. “We initially opened up 24 spaces… and now we’ve ended up with 105 girls here that have signed up.”
Dawson, who has coached children at Shine for 12 years, said the impact the success of the England women’s team was having on young girls was clear to see.
“I think it shows the success of what the lionesses are trying to do because they’re inspiring a generation, and it’s great that all these girls here want to emulate their heroes that they’re watching on TV,” he said.
The session ended with the girls recording a good luck message for their heroes(Image: Shine)
There was even the opportunity for the girls at the session to show their patriotic pride, as they queued up for some St Georges Cross face paint in between football drills.
Shine staff acknowledged the temptation of a morning of free childcare may have been too much for some parents to resist at the start of the summer holidays.
Nonetheless, they were hoping the session, and the inspiration of the Lionesses, would have a lasting impact on the girls who attended, with recent figures showing a majority of women stop playing team sports when they turn 21.
Friday’s session ended with the horde of football-mad girls gathering on the pitch to record a video message wishing their heroes luck. The message will be sent to the England camp on social media.
Sunday’s final will be shown at venues across Bristol, including the Independence Sports Bar at Ashton Gate Stadium.