We started the week off by having Millie, who plays in our under 9’s and under 11’s teams, taking time out of her training session to speak about her love of the beautiful game.
Millie said: “I love football because it’s fun and the coaches make it fun. I don’t think football is just for boys, I think girls can play it as well.”
Day 2 of Women and Girls in Sport Week saw our hard-working girls in hockey smashing their running challenge with over 150 miles being covered in just 14 days.
It was great to see the hockey team also getting excellent coverage in the Greenock Telegraph during Women and Girls in Sport Week as it gave Lauren McInnes the chance to urge more young women to join the team and have an opportunity to have great fun.
Lauren has been a coach for a few years now in the hockey team and has gained valuable experience from her time in the sport.
Lauren said: “Through hockey, I have made not only many great friends, but it has also opened up many opportunities for me.
“It’s important to get girls involved as it gains them confidence and gives them the chance to have fun whilst learning a new skill for life.”
Over the course of the week, nine of our young women footballers were given the platform to give their own experiences and to show how important they feel football is to them as their videos were shared on the Morton in the Community’s Twitter and Facebook.
But with the help of our main sponsor of the entire girls’ pathway, Specsavers, our girls have been given the best possible chance to succeed in the sport with their continued support being so important in our players’ developments.
Specsavers store director Lesley Brown, says: “We are always on the look-out for good opportunities to help the local community and as soon as we received the call from Greenock Morton girls’ football team, we knew we had to help.”
“With more and more Scottish fans enjoying the women’s version of the game because of the prominence of the Women’s World Cup on TV last year, it’s hugely important for us to help even more young girls discover a love for the sport and help discover new talent. We look forward to seeing whether we’ve backed some future stars of the sport right here in Greenock.”
We have been so happy to create such a strong relationship with Specsavers and we are very thankful for everything they do to ensure our girls can enjoy their football and gain so much from the experience.
Another of the young women who has been part of the Senior Women’s team for a number of years is Hannah McGeehan who echoed the views of Millie and the rest of the girls who spoke passionately about football.
Hannah said: “I play sport for a number of reasons, the main reason being that I just really enjoy it.
“One of the aspects of the sport that I enjoy the most is being able to push myself and to challenge myself and those around me, to work our hardest in order to achieve the best we can.”
Our celebration of Women and Girls in Sport Week ended with Jennifer, who is part of our Senior Women’s squad, giving us a final insight into how much football means to her.
Jennifer said: “As a player and a coach, girls’ football has come a long way. When I was primary school, I was told girls can’t play football which really hurt my feelings.
“Thankfully, things have changed for the better and girls and women now have more choices in football.”
A huge thanks goes to all of the young women who spoke with such pride and such passion over the course of the week as it provided us with a great insight into how important sport can be to them!