Telford College welcomed hundreds of year five and six girls from primary schools across the region to take part in a girls-only football tournament.

The event, held in conjunction with the Telford and Wrekin School Sports Partnership, gave the college’s own sports students valuable experience in helping with the organisation.

The event ran in two sessions over the course of the day. All first-year sports students on the college’s football and coaching and fitness pathways were able to get involved, including officiating the matches.

The Telford College students also coached and managed the individual teams, and gave one-to-one coaching to help the primary school children develop their football skills.

Sports lecturer Jason Jones said: “With the success of the Lionesses last summer, it was fantastic to see all of the female participants who showed up for this event.

“We were glad to be able to give them this opportunity. Our female students have also been officiating the matches, and it’s been inspirational for the participants to look up to them as role models and as girls in authoritative positions within sport.”

Telford College also ran football tutorial sessions during lunchtimes in its indoor sports dome for all females at the college last week to celebrate the ‘Let Girls Play’ campaign.

The campaign, which is backed by the FA, England football, and a host of top-name stars including former Arsenal and England men’s striker Ian Wright, seeks to give all girls equal access to play football in schools by 2024.

Telford College has a girls’ football team, made up of students from various courses, which plays against other colleges every Wednesday afternoon in the newly-formed Shropshire Under-19 League.

Pictured in the team line-up above are Jhennile Mcleggon, Courtney Shenton, Katrina Banks, Shamane Jeffrey-Shaw, Claudia Aigbefo, Beth Kenny, Abi Bayliss, Sasha Meredith and Chloe Smith.

• To find out more about Telford College’s range of sports courses, click here