A NEW course aimed specifically at girls looking for a career in football will be kicking off at Oswestry’s North Shropshire College in a unique partnership with The New Saints FC Foundation.

The Girls’ Football Scholarship, which will start in September 2024, offers a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport for 16 to 19-year-olds chasing a career as a professional footballer, coach, referee or physiotherapist.

The course will be run in partnership with The New Saints FC through the football club’s charity, TNS FC Foundation.

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It follows the highly successful boys’ version of the programme which has been running for 20 years and has produced hundreds of professional footballers.

The partnership with The New Saints FC will give students access to two to three training sessions per week, a UEFA qualified coach and the experience of working and even playing alongside the TNS FC teams.

Shauna Duffy, head of women and girls’ football at The New Saints FC, explained that the new course would focus purely on football rather than a wide range of sports and was aimed at girls with their sights firmly set on a football career.

But, she said, the girls’ scholarship programme would have a wider emphasis on all football careers as compared to the equivalent boys’ course which was very much focused on becoming a professional player.

“We have to accept that the women’s game is not as far forward and there are not as many opportunities to play full time,” she said.

“This scholarship offers lots of different ways of pursuing a full-time career in football not just as a professional player but as a coach or a referee or a physio.

“The huge bonus to this scholarship is the chance to work alongside football professionals and get real, practical experience in all aspects of the football world.”

The programme will be based at North Shropshire College’s Oswestry campus led by Marie Davis.

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She said: “We are extremely excited to continue our longstanding work with TNS academy.

“We look forward to welcoming and developing the TNS girls' scholarship, with Shauna support and enthusiasm, the girls programme will no doubt go from strength to strength.

Further details on the course and how to apply are available at https://hlnsc.ac.uk/hlnsc-courses/sport-tns-football-scholarship-level-3/ or by emailing Marie Davis at m.davis@hlnsc.ac.uk or info@nsc.ac.uk